


A Song Only You Can Hear

by Annaelle



Series: An Anchor, A Port in a Storm [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex and Reggie Figure Themselves out, Angst, Bisexual Julie Molina, Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby is a shit, Boys In Love, But He's a Human Shit, Caleb's a dick, Canonical Character Death, Established Julie/Flynn, Established Reggie/Luke, Established Willie/Alex, F/F, Gay Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Gen, Ghosts, Idiots in Love, Julie and the Himbos, Lesbian Flynn (Julie and The Phantoms), Luke and Reggie Are Cuties In Love, M/M, Multi, Pansexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Past Alex/Reggie, Perhaps There is Hope After All, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Canon, Reggie Has a Little Sister, Sequel, idiots to lovers, they're trying but they have one collective brain cell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:36:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annaelle/pseuds/Annaelle
Summary: “You Don’t Love Someone For Their Looks, Or Their Clothes, Or For Their Fancy Car, But Because They Sing a Song Only You can Hear.”—Oscar Wilde“I know,” Alex sighed, “that I said the pining was horrible, but this—" he gestured towards Reggie, on the couch, and Luke, who was still staring at them from the floor, making no attempt to put his shirt or pants back on, “—this is worse, guys.”--The boys try to navigate the afterlife, interpersonal relationships and family and, while doing so, try to discover their unfinished business.RUKE/WILLEX (at first)/JULYNNWILLIE/ALEX/LUKE/REGGIE
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer/Luke Patterson (Past Relationship), Alex Mercer/Reggie Peters (Past Relationship), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Julie Molina, Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters/Alex Mercer/Willie, Maggie Peters (OFC)/T'Nia Danvers (OFC)
Series: An Anchor, A Port in a Storm [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021662
Comments: 139
Kudos: 168





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello darlings!
> 
> Welcome to the next instalment of this little series.  
> I have absolutely no writing schedule for this, and also it's exam month, so I'll probably be pretty absent. 
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Love  
> Annaelle
> 
> P.S. thank you to my darling Juulna and the lovely peoples on the Discord server for enduring my whining about these characters and scenes. I love you all ❤️

# A Song Only You Can Hear

## “You Don’t Love Someone For Their Looks, Or Their Clothes, Or For Their Fancy Car, But Because They Sing a Song Only You can Hear.”  
—Oscar Wilde

**ONE**

_“When You Find Someone Who Makes You Feel the Same Way Music Does, That’s When You’ve Found Someone Special.”  
—Unknown Author_

**13 DECEMBER 2020  
REGGIE**

Reggie had gotten used to the way Luke touched him now that they were together embarrassingly quickly and easily. It wasn’t, in a sense, very different from the way Luke had always touched him, because Luke was a human octopus who liked wrapping himself around Reggie—and Alex and Julie—as soon as they were within reach, but there was _intent_ behind the touches now, and Reggie was pretty sure that intent was to _drive Reggie mad_.

When he and Luke shared a mic these days, Luke usually wouldn’t let him back away without at least a little kiss, and he’d keep an arm slung around Reggie’s waist or shoulders _all the time_ , or he’d hold Reggie’s hand and stand pressed up close to him, or he’d sneakily press kisses to the sensitive skin just behind Reggie’s left ear when they all sat on the couch together, and he was _driving Reggie ‘round the fucking bend_.

“You’re driving me _nuts_ ,” he told Luke when the other ghost pressed him up against the nearest wall, lips against his throat. Reggie gasped when Luke nipped at the sensitive skin, clenching his fingers in Luke’s shirt and hair, torn between pulling his boyfriend closer and shoving him off.

Luke hummed happily against him and then chuckled, “That just means I’m doing this right.”

Reggie thumped his head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling, blearily thinking it was a good thing they’d never done this when they were alive because Luke was _killing_ him. “I’m gonna die. You’re gonna kill me all over again,” he blurted sadly, and Luke outright _laughed_ , temporarily—and thankfully—pulling his lips from Reggie’s throat to lean his head on his shoulder as he laughed.

And Reggie… Reggie couldn’t help but smile too, because he loved this moron and sometimes he still couldn’t quite believe he got to have this. It was everything he’d ever thought he wanted—except for the whole being dead thing, obviously.

Luke looked back up at him, still grinning broadly, and cupped Reggie’s cheeks in both hands. “You,” he grinned, leaning in to press a tiny kiss to the tip of Reggie’s nose, “are so fucking _precious_.”

Reggie wrinkled his nose and tried to look offended, but he couldn’t really hide the way he melted with Luke’s warm palms pressed to his cheeks, the way he swayed towards him even when he wanted to pout at Luke for being unfair and too sexy for Reggie’s poor bisexual brain to handle.

He heaved a sigh and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Luke’s, slipping his arms around Luke’s neck. “Hmmm,” Luke hummed, dropping his hands from Reggie’s face and wrapping his arms around his waist instead, tugging him close so they were pressed together entirely. “Hi, baby.” He rubbed his hands over the length of Reggie’s back, and Reggie shivered despite himself.

He’d thought he’d get used to Luke calling him _baby_ , but it still turned his insides to mush and reduced him to an incoherent sputtering mess. “I love you,” Reggie said helplessly, and Luke grinned, leaning forward to press a flurry of soft, small kisses to Reggie’s cheeks, nose and lips.

“I love you too, you dork,” Luke replied, smiling broadly.

Reggie hummed happily when Luke tracked his hand through Reggie’s hair, leaning back into the touch before tilting his head forward again to rub his nose against Luke’s, to breathe him in, to _feel_ him. Luke grinned and rewarded him with a quick, small kiss, before leaning back and jerking his head towards the couch. “Wanna take this someplace more comfortable?”

“Ugh, your lines are _the worst_ ,” Reggie complained, but he let Luke pull him towards the couch anyway, barely repressing a shiver at the way Luke’s eyes darkened, heat pooling low in his belly.

They hadn’t… they hadn’t done much yet, together, despite having been together for nearly three months, at this point. 

They’d made out _a lot—_ and quite a few of those make outs had ended with one or both of them wearing significantly fewer clothes than they’d started with—and while Reggie had a hard time keeping his hands off of Luke in general, privacy had been really hard to come by, considering they did still share the garage with Alex, and Julie was wont to wander in occasionally.

Even Maggie frequented their studio more often now.

Today, though… Today they had _hours_ to themselves. Julie was going to be at school until four, and to Flynn’s after, Alex was spending the day with Willie and Maggie was spending three days with her in-laws, so they had the place _entirely_ to themselves. Reggie didn’t have _plans_ , or anything, because he didn’t want to _expect_ anything, but he _was_ excited to spend time with Luke by themselves too.

He was pretty sure that was essential to a real relationship.

Given, his only real frame of reference was what he’d had with Alex and Ella, but both those experiences had been so wildly different from what he now had with Luke that he wasn’t sure if it helped at all.

Still, he let Luke guide him back until the backs of his knees hit the couch—still pulled out into a bed, sheets still messed up from where they’d watched a movie the previous night with Alex, Willie, Julie and Flynn—and it only took a small, distracting kiss and a gentle push for Reggie to go tumbling down. Reggie laughed, falling back against the wrinkled sheets, grinning up at his boyfriend and best friend delightedly. “Now what?” he asked breathlessly, drawing his lower lip between his teeth.

Luke grinned brightly and shrugged off his flannel, tossing it aside carelessly before he clambered onto the couch and plopped down in Reggie’s lap. “Now this,” Luke muttered quietly before he sealed their lips together again, digging his fingers into Reggie’s hair. They parted for a split-second, barely long enough to _breathe_ before Reggie surged up again and slipped his arms around Luke’s neck.

Luke, on his end, didn’t even hesitate, didn’t question if they should stop, should slow down. Instead, he moaned quietly against Reggie’slips and opened his mouth, and the kiss went from passionate but contained to _searing_ hot, and all Reggie could do was fist a hand in Luke’s hair and hold on as best as he could.

“You’re so sexy,” Luke panted, teeth scraping over Reggie bottom lip, grinding himself down against Reggie. Reggie groaned and dropped his hands down to Luke’s waist, fumbling with the fly of his jeans as he tried to concentrate enough to kiss Luke back. 

“You can’t _say_ stuff like that,” Reggie groaned when Luke grinded down again, but Luke just smirked against his lips, tugging at Reggie’s flannel insistently, shoving it and Reggie’s shirt up to his armpits impatiently. “I can’t take that off unless you stop kissing me,” Reggie muttered against Luke’s lips, giddy and excited and so, _so_ in love with him.

“Fine,” Luke pouted, sitting up abruptly and stripping his own loose shirt off over his head before falling back onto Reggie, stripping his flannel and shirt off as one and tossing them aside, and Reggie was already reaching out again, already missing Luke’s mouth on his.

Luke moaned against Reggie’s lips but kissed him back just as eagerly, managing to get out of his own jeans without having to force Reggie to stop kissing him, managing even to get Reggie mostly out of his before they broke apart to breathe, panting heavily. “Hi,” Luke whispered after Reggie fully kicked off his jeans, tangling their legs together, tugging Reggie for another kiss, softer and lazier.

Reggie hummed contently into the kiss and draped his arms around Luke’s shoulders as the other ghost settled on top of him, pressing his entire body firmly into Reggie’s. Reggie got lost, within moments, in the feel of their skin sliding together, warm and slick with sweat.

“I love you,” he breathed against Luke’s lips, barely allowing himself the luxury of pulling away to actually _say_ the words.

It wasn’t the first time he’d said it—it wasn’t even the first time _today_ —but suddenly Luke tensed a little, pulling back just a little and the expression on his face was… was _not_ what Reggie would’ve expected it to be considering their state of undress and their previous _enthusiasm_.

“Are… are you okay?” Reggie asked, unsure, pushing Luke up just a little so he could look at him.

“I’ve never done this before,” Luke blurted, and then looked horrified at himself, and Reggie should probably do more than _stare_ , but he was—he was _really surprised_ , okay?

Luke had… Luke had had ten boys and girls on each finger when they’d been alive, and he’d _talked_ about it too, had bragged to Bobby about it when the other boy bragged about his own hookups, and… and Reggie couldn’t really believe it.

“Wh—” he choked, blinking up at Luke with wide eyes. “Really? B—but what about—”

“I didn’t,” Luke shrugged, sitting up on Reggie’s lap again, crossing his arms over his chest. “I never went all the way with them. I didn’t really want to, so…” He looked down at Reggie with a soft, vulnerable expression and admitted, “I wanted it to be Alex, for a while, and then… and then I fell in love with you, and I—I just didn’t.”

“Oh,” Reggie breathed.

Luke’s brow furrowed, and he pouted. “Is that all you can say?”

“No,” Reggie blurted, sitting up so abruptly he nearly smacked his face into Luke’s. “No, I was just surprised.” He smiled shyly and added, “I’m really honored you’d _want to_ , with me.” He blinked and then said, rushed, “You _do_ want to, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Luke nodded vigorously, before taking Reggie’s face in his hands and smacking a hard, brief kiss to his lips. “I _absolutely_ want to, I just… got nervous, I guess.” He chuckled awkwardly and ran a hand through his hair. “I know you _have_ gone all the way before, so…” Luke shrugged and ducked his head down to hide his blush.

“Oh,” Reggie said again. “Well, I mean. I’ve only ever done it with one person, so it’s not like I’m swimming in experience either. And I was nervous too the first time, a little anyway.” He shrugged, “I kind of liked that Alex knew what he was doing. It was comforting to know that at least one of us knew.”

Luke froze again, and Reggie’s eyes went wide again as he looked at his boyfriend, who looked like he was having an epiphany and a stroke all at once.

“Oh,” Luke groaned, before tipping forward to rest his head against Reggie’s shoulder. “Oh my God.”

Reggie blinked at the far wall in confusion, raising one hand to pat Luke’s head in what he hoped was a comforting way. “What?” He asked quietly.

“I’m such an idiot,” Luke groaned, thumping his forehead on Reggie’s shoulder twice before sitting up again to look at him. “Alex. You—you didn’t _tell_ him about your first time, did you? He _was_ your first.” He rolled his eyes and scoffed, “ _Excruciating detail_ , my ass.”

Reggie snorted. “I mean, it was _my ass_ , but okay.”

Luke’s lips twitched up into a barely-there smile before he frowned again.

Reggie reached up and trailed his fingers over the wrinkle on Luke’s forehead, smoothing it out with his fingertips. “What else is going on up there, Luke?”

Luke sighed and melted a little, uncrossing his arms and resting them on Reggie’s shoulders instead. “You guys had a real relationship, you know, and I… I didn’t know about it. I feel like I just missed an entire part of your lives, and it… it feels weird.” He shrugged helplessly and looked at Reggie with big, shiny puppy eyes. “We’ve always shared everything, so I guess I just need to get used to knowing that we _didn’t_ actually share as much as I thought we did.”

Reggie’s gut twisted uncomfortably, and he frowned. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely, wrapping his arms around Luke’s waist. “Alex wanted to tell everyone, but…” He bit his lip and whispered, “I wasn’t ready for that, so we kept quiet. I’m sorry.” He tipped forward to rest his forehead to Luke’s collarbone. “We should’ve told you sooner.”

He felt Luke sigh before the other boy reached up and threaded his fingers through Reggie’s hair, tugging lightly until Reggie pulled back to look at him.

“It’s okay,” Luke whispered. “I don’t like that you two lied, but… I get it.”

“I’m sorry,” Reggie said again, but Luke shook his head, smiling lightly as he leaned in to kiss Reggie.

“Water under the bridge,” he breathed against his lips, smiling as he slotted their lips together again, tightening his arms around Reggie’s neck, and just like that, the mood shifted again, and Reggie became _extremely_ aware that they were both down to their underwear.

“Where were we?” Luke grinned, nudging their noses against each other before kissing him again.

“Oh, come on,” Alex groaned, and Luke startled so bad he fell out of Reggie’s lap and onto the floor with a thud. Reggie stared, wide-eyed and surprised, at Alex, Julie and Willie, who stood in the doorway to the garage, for a beat before he snatched the sheets up and held them up to cover his chest. 

“I know,” Alex sighed, “that I said the pining was horrible, but this—" he gestured towards Reggie, on the couch, and Luke, who was still staring at them from the floor, making no attempt to put his shirt or pants back on, “—this is _worse_ , guys.”

Julie snorted and pushed past Alex, settling on her seat by the keyboard and said, “He’s got a point, guys. The couch is used by all of us, so no funny business on the couch.”

Luke pouted. “It’s technically my couch. And we weren’t even doing anything—”

At the same time, Reggie snorted and said, “Please, that couch has seen _way_ worse than us making out.” Everyone turned to stare at Reggie, who was mostly unbothered and a little surprised. “What? It _has. We’ve_ done way worse than make out on it.”

“No, we haven’t,” Luke said, perplexed.

“Oh, no,” Reggie said brightly. “I meant me and Alex.”

“Oh my God,” Julie groaned, and Luke choked. Alex turned fire engine red and buried his face in his hands while Willie smirked at him.

“ _Really_?” Willie said, sounding disproportionately delighted.

Alex made a small, despairing noise and Willie patted his head comfortingly. “Hush, I’ll get to you in a minute, hot dog.” He turned to Reggie and grinned. “I think you and I have _a lot_ to talk about.

Reggie’s cheeks flushed and he blinked at Willie. “Sure?” He choked. “I guess?” Willie just grinned and snatched Reggie’s discarded jeans and shirt off the floor, tossing them at Reggie. He managed to catch them just before they hit him in the face, but didn’t move to put them on, because that would mean dropping the sheets and he wasn’t really into flashing his friends.

“Why are you guys even back here?” Luke demanded, hoisting himself on the couch beside Reggie, tucking himself close and covering up with the sheet too. Reggie leaned against him despite himself, because he _did_ feel better with Luke right next to him, sharing in the mortification of being walked in on _again_. “We thought you guys wouldn’t be back until tonight.”

“Clearly,” Willie grinned, waggling his eyebrows at them.

“Go get dressed,” Julie told them with a fondly exasperated look. “I got some pretty big news, and I came here to tell you guys immediately.” She jerked her thumb towards Alex and Willie, “They were making out in the driveway when I got here.”

“Wha—” Alex sputtered, turning red again, “No, we weren’t.”

“I mean,” Willie shrugged. “We kind of were, hot dog.”

Alex glared over at Willie with a betrayed expression, and Reggie couldn’t suppress a delighted giggle. It was great to see Alex with someone who was just as sassy as he was, who could keep up with him and wasn’t afraid to tease him—Reggie liked Willie a whole lot better than he’d liked the guy Alex had very briefly dated after he’d broken up with Reggie.

“Come on,” Luke whispered to him as Alex turned to sass back at Julie with Willie watching in amusement, and Reggie took his hand, letting Luke poof them up to the loft, where they had at least a modicum of privacy to get dressed.

“You better not continue making out up there,” Alex said sternly, and Luke groaned in response, obnoxious and loud.

“Oh, Reggie,” he moaned exaggeratedly, “just like that.”

There was a chorus of disgusted sounds from the rest of the group and Reggie blushed so hard he felt like his head might explode. “Luke,” he hissed as he wiggled back into his jeans, shoving at his boyfriend. “Stop it.”

Luke grinned at him, bright and unrepentant, before grabbing his face and smacking a kiss onto his lips. “Sorry baby,” he said quietly, releasing Reggie again and turning to find a pair of jeans of his own.

Reggie sighed, heavily, and pulled on one of Luke’s sleeveless band shirts, grinning at the way Luke’s eyes glazed over when he looked at Reggie. They may not be able to continue right now, but if Luke was allowed to tease, so was Reggie. “What?” He said innocently, eyeing Luke with a grin. “Don’t think I can pull it off?”

“Oh no,” Luke said, eyes dark and lips still a little swollen from their frantic kisses earlier, and when he stepped closer, pulling Reggie closer by the hips, Reggie began to suspect he may have miscalculated. “No, you pull it off a little _too well_ , baby,” Luke whispered against his lips. “I don’t know if I want anyone else to see you like this.”

Reggie hummed against Luke’s lips and rested his arms on Luke’s shoulders. “Well,” he said when they’d pulled away. “You’ll just have to deal with it, _my love_.”

Luke stiffened in his arms and Reggie grinned.

It was a _thing_.

Luke called Reggie ‘baby’ and it still made Reggie melt every damn time, but… _but_. Reggie had never been one for pet names himself, had never really called anyone by one—not even Alex—but when Luke had spent another day with his parents and came back crying his eyes out, Reggie had spent hours holding him, comforting him, and the words ‘my love’ had slipped out and Luke had _melted_.

Reggie’d filed the information away carefully, and while he still wasn’t one for pet names, he liked to break out ‘my love’ for special occasions, like this one.

“That’s not fair,” Luke pouted, and Reggie smirked.

“Are you two _done_?” Julie demanded, and Reggie chuckled, leaning in to press one more kiss to Luke’s lips before he poofed down—still in Luke’s band shirt. Alex’s eyes found his almost immediately, and Reggie knew that his best friend knew _exactly_ what he was doing. Reggie _may_ have had a penchant for stealing Alex’s sweaters and wearing them when they’d been dating too.

“So,” he said, sitting back down on the folded-out couch. “What’s this big news?”

Luke poofed down too, dressed in yet another sleeveless band shirt, pouting at Reggie as he settled cross-legged beside him, reaching out for Reggie’s hand as soon as he was settled. Reggie scooted a little closer and let Luke pull his hand over into his lap so Luke could fiddle with the rings on his fingers.

Alex turned too, raising an eyebrow at their lead singer as he sauntered over to plop down on Reggie’s other side, leaning their shoulders together comfortably. Willie grinned at them all and then wordlessly plopped down on the floor in front of Alex, leaning back against one of his legs while Alex slung the other one forward a little to rest it lightly against the side of Willie’s chest.

Reggie smiled and leaned a little harder against Alex.

He really did like this, and Willie. They’d barely known him for a couple of months, but he felt like he was a part of their group in the same way Julie was. He fit in with them in a way even Bobby had never managed to accomplish, in a way Julie was still overwhelmed by, sometimes.

“Maggie called me today,” Julie explained, bouncing on her toes excitedly as she spoke. “She’s got us a gig—a _big_ gig. It’s a music festival here in L.A. this summer!”

“That’s great!” Luke exclaimed, and Reggie nodded too, grinning excitedly as Julie pulled up the banner on her iPad before handing it over. Reggie eyed the website eagerly as Alex scrolled through the homepage, grinning brightly at the description of the artists that had been asked to play.

“A mix of major pop and rock acts—the majority of which are female oriented and proudly part of the LGBTQ+ community,” Alex read aloud, sounding wonderstruck and a little shaky, and Reggie rested his free hand on Alex’s knee, squeezing it lightly, because he _got it_. He understood.

Things hadn’t been as bad as they’d been in the eighties or the seventies when they were growing up, but it’d still been a far cry from _this_.

Reggie’s father had outright kicked him out of the house when he’d found out, and while Alex’s parents had let him continue living with them, they’d flat-out ignored him and even denied they’d even _had_ a son when he’d died. Luke’s parents, for all their other issues with Luke, had been the only set of parents that loved Luke and Reggie and Alex unconditionally, that had accepted who they were without any sort of judgement.

“This is amazing,” Alex said hoarsely, handing the tablet back to Julie with a shaky smile, and when Reggie looked down, he saw Willie had wrapped both arms around one of Alex’s legs too, resting his head against Alex’s knee.

Luke was pretty quiet, but when Reggie glanced at his own boyfriend, he saw Luke was chewing on his lower lip hard too. Reggie squeezed his fingers around Luke’s and the singer looked up, smiling the same kind of weak, shaky smile that Alex had, squeezing his fingers back.

“So,” Reggie asked quietly, redirecting his gaze towards Julie, “Does that mean we’re officially profiling ourselves as a LGBTQ+ band?” He eyed Julie thoughtfully and frowned, “I thought Maggie said it wasn’t the best idea unless we wanted to make that part of our musical identity?”

Julie shrugged. “No use in denying it. Literally all of us are in gay relationships.” She smiled and said, “Maggie talked it over with some of Destiny’s PR people and they agreed it’s better to be upfront about it—we might ostracize some people, but it’ll draw in a new crowd too, and lend a lot of support to people like us, you know?”

Reggie nodded. “That makes sense.”

Julie grinned too, clapping her hands together before she continued, “It’s a thirty-minute set, so we’ll probably be able to fit six or seven songs in there.” She frowned, “We’ll just have to figure out a way to keep you guys visible between the songs too.”

“Oh,” Reggie frowned, “Well, how about we just do it like Queen did?”

Julie frowned, perplexed, but Alex was nodding and Luke exclaimed, “Yes! That’s a great idea!”

“At their Live Aid performance, in ‘85,” Reggie explained to Julie. “Luke’s parents let us stay up to watch their performance live, ‘cause it was in the middle of the night and they were the only ones that could get the right channel on their tv. It was amazing. They essentially just made the songs flow into each other, so they were playing the entire time. If we do that, compose a bridge between each song, we’ll be visible the entire time.”

“Oooh,” Julie nodded in understanding, “Right! I get that. Definitely a good idea, Reggie!”

Reggie grinned happily, and then listened to Luke and Julie debating which songs to play. He leaned his head against Alex’s shoulder, Luke still holding his hand hostage, fiddling with Reggie’s rings as he spoke to Julie.

“It’s best to end on one of our more popular songs,” Julie said, but Luke shook his head and said, “Or something softer. Slower.” He wrinkled his nose and looked over at Alex and Reggie. “What do you guys think? Slow or popular?”

Reggie shrugged, and Alex said, “Why not both? We’ve got months between now and then, we can see which of the slower songs, which of the ballads are more popular.”

“I like In Your Starlight,” Reggie admitted.

“It’s a _love song_ ,” Luke pointed out. “We don’t do love songs.”

“Why not?” Reggie pouted. “Is it because it’s about Alex? Because I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to just veto it outright.”

“It was on our demo though,” Alex said reasonably, although his cheeks were _very_ red and Willie was sniggering quietly against his leg. “It’s too big a risk to use that one. We’ve been careful not to use any Sunset Curve songs that anyone might remember or recognize.”

“Plus,” Luke added, “I don’t _want_ to use In Your Starlight.”

“Aw,” Reggie whined, pouting at his boyfriend. “Is it because you think your new boyfriend is gonna be freaked out if you sing a song about your ex? ‘Cause _I’m_ your new boyfriend and Alex is also my ex so I _totally_ get it.” Alex squeaked beside him, but Reggie kept his gaze on Luke. “He’s very lovable.”

Both Alex and Luke squealed, “ _Reggie!”_ in identical, scandalized voices and Reggie, Julie and Willie burst into laughter. “He’s right, hot dog,” Willie said teasingly, wheezing lightly with laughter, reaching up to pat Alex’s thigh. “You _are_ pretty lovable.”

Reggie sat, squished between his two favorite people, with the third one standing in front of him, grinning at them, and thought that the last six months had been pretty amazing, despite the whole being dead thing.

He leaned his head against Alex’s shoulder again and smiled.

He liked this.

—————————

**15 DECEMBER 2020  
LUKE**

Luke settled himself comfortably behind Reggie on the couch, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and propping his chin up on Reggie’s shoulder. “Watcha doin’, baby?” He asked, turning his head just enough to brush a light kiss onto Reggie’s cheek.

“Just,” Reggie murmured, lazily leafing through his songbook, “looking for new things we might be able to use, you know?” He leaned back into Luke’s embrace and Luke couldn’t help but smile, nuzzling close to his boyfriend as Reggie continued, “I know you like to poke fun of the country songs, but I got a ton of other lyrics and music in here too. We can probably rework some of it.”

Luke hummed in agreement and tightened his arms around Reggie.

“I happen to love your country songs,” he argued without pulling his lips from Reggie’s cheek. “Even when they’re stupid and about horses.”

Reggie snorted a laugh and elbowed him in the stomach, but Luke refused to let go, tightening his grip around Reggie as the other boy laughed and struggled half-heartedly before settling down again, leaning back into Luke’s chest with a content sigh.

Luke chuckled, and Reggie went back to leafing through his songbook, with Luke reading over his shoulder. While Luke’s own songbook was a messy collection of whatever bits of lyric floated around in his brain, chords and notes added here and there, full songs only written out towards the back of his book, Reggie’s was better kept and neater, filled with little doodles in the margins and Reggie’s loopy handwriting, chords noted next to each corresponding line.

Luke loved Reggie’s adorably neat, organized songbook as much as he loved Reggie, and he loved that Reggie trusted him enough to show him the pages of the book.

“What’s this one?” He asked quietly, lifting one hand from Reggie’s stomach to trail his fingers across the words. “…searching through our memories,” he hummed, briefly missing the way Reggie went rigid, “searching for ways to you and me, but no matter what I do… there’s a stranger holding you. Little did I know, the memory of us would haunt these streets. Little did I know, I’d have so much to say but no words to speak…”

He hummed a few more bars, trailing his fingers along the lines before he muttered, “This is amazing, Reg. Why’ve you never shared this before?”

“It was… it _is_ personal… I wasn’t ready,” Reggie whispered, and it wasn’t until then that Luke noticed just how stiffly Reggie was holding himself. He dropped his hand from the book back to Reggie’s chest immediately, using his other hand to tilt Reggie’s face his way.

“Hey, look at me,” Luke said quietly. “Reg, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

“It’s okay,” Reggie muttered. “I just… I kept all of this to myself for so long it feels… _weird_ to share it.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Luke insisted, nudging their noses together. “I know these things are super personal.” Reggie exhaled shakily and shook his head, before nudging their lips together in a soft, brief kiss.

“It’s fine,” Reggie said with a shaky smile. “If I didn’t want you to see, I would’ve put it away.”

Luke’s dead heart squeezed in his chest and he beamed at Reggie. “Thanks for trusting me.” He didn’t ask who the song was about—he didn’t need to. The only relationship Reggie had ever been secretive about had been his thing with Alex, and while they seemed fine now, Luke remembered the way Reggie had looked at Alex back when they were alive.

It was one of the things he couldn’t believe he hadn’t picked up on before.

Luke tightened his arms around Reggie and rested his forehead against Reggie’s temple. “I love you, Reg,” he muttered. “More than anything.”

Reggie exhaled a deep breath and leaned into the touch. “I love you,” he replied simply.

Of course, the moment was then ruined by Alex walking in, tossing a pillow at them and calling them gross, before he dove onto the couch with them, knocking all three of them over into a messy pile of limbs, and Luke couldn’t even resent his friend for interrupting the moment—he loved these two assholes with all that he was.

If he was to share his afterlife with anyone, he was glad it was them.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> Second chapter ☺️ Also... I'm sorry? *hides* 
> 
> Love  
> Annaelle
> 
> PS Unbeta'd, so any and all mistakes are mine.

**TWO**

_“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”  
**– Harriet Tubman**_

**16 DECEMBER 2020  
MAGGIE**

“You know, someone told me once that a watched phone never rings, sugar plum.”

Maggie looked up from where she’d been engaged in a fierce staring contest with her infuriatingly silent phone, finding Ende, T’Nia’s sister, leaning against the kitchen island. She hadn’t even heard her come into the kitchen. Maggie hung her head a little before she smiled up at Ende ruefully.

They’d been friends since college—had bonded over being L.A. girls in New York—and while Ende hadn’t been a massive fan of her best friend and her sister falling head over heels in love with each other at first, she’d come around quickly. Maggie was still relieved that she had, because the last thing she’d wanted was to lose her best friend over a girl.

“You’ve been a little preoccupied,” Ende observed, crossing her arms over her chest. “T’Nia mentioned you took on a new band recently, but I thought everything was going pretty well on that front?”

Maggie sighed and nodded, taking her eyes off her phone again to look at Ende.

“It is,” she nodded. “They’re just…” she shook her head and heaved another sigh. Much as she wanted to tell Ende everything, she knew her friend wouldn’t believe her, and… and who would, honestly? She was still relatively sure T’Nia had only believed her because she knew Maggie well enough to know she’d _never_ lie about something like this, and because she’d been able to _prove_ what she was saying.

“They remind me of my brother,” she finally said, settling on something as close to the truth as she could manage. “Him and the other boys. They’re just… they’re so young, but they’re _so_ passionate and so incredibly fucking talented, it’s…” she exhaled and shook her head. “It’s a little insane. And I guess I just… worry. They’re _kids_ , you know?”

She leaned forward to rest her elbows on the kitchen island and shot a smile towards Ende. “I guess I’m a little prone to taking my work home with me.”

Ende nodded slowly, uncrossing her arms from her chest as she leaned on the counter too.

“After everything you went through with your family and your brother, I can see why that’d be hard to let go,” she conceded. “Just… promise me you won’t _obsess_ , okay?”

“No,” Maggie denied immediately, maybe a little _too_ readily. Ende raised an eyebrow at her and Maggie winced, hanging her head again before she admitted, “I’m trying not to let myself slip into that mindset again. And T’Nia knows, she… she helps. And I have Regina to focus on too.”

Ende hummed sympathetically and then pulled out one of the barstools to sit at the island across from Maggie. “When I met you,” she began slowly, “you were in a tailspin, Mags. Figuring out what happened to your brother and his friends was driving you _crazy_ , was _ruining_ your life one day at a time and you were letting it.”

Maggie looked down and swallowed thickly.

There was no use denying it.

She’d been _desperate_ to know _why_ her brother had been taken from her, _why_ someone had looked at him and Luke and Alex and decided to _kill_ them, and when there weren’t answers forthcoming, she’d… she’d lost it, a little.

Ende, and later T’Nia, had dragged her out of that deep, dark hole kicking and screaming and had helped her see that her brother had loved her and would _never_ have wanted her to live the way she was living back then. They’d convinced her to go to therapy, to go back to school and to stop running away from everything that music meant to her—

They’d saved her life.

“I’m not going to let it get that far again,” Maggie said firmly. “It’s different.”

Ende looked down and sighed. “And I believe you when you say that, I really do. But as much as you’re worrying about those kids, I worry about you.”

Maggie was struck silent by the intensity of Ende’s gaze when her friend looked up again.

“I love you, Mags,” Ende continued. “You’re my sister and my best friend and I want you to be okay.” She fell silent for a moment and then added, thoughtfully, “And also I think T’Nia would cry for weeks if you lost your mind again and _no one_ wants to see that.”

Maggie snorted a laugh and shook her head, and Ende dissolved into giggles.

“What’re you two giggling about?” T’Nia chuckled from the doorway, and Maggie jumped a little, because her situational awareness seemed to have stayed behind in L.A.

Jesus.

“Nothing important,” she said lightly, although she had to admit T’Nia could probably see right through her anyway. She kept her eye on her wife as she moved into the kitchen, eyebrow raised at her and Ende.

“Fine,” T’Nia chuckled, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Maggie’s cheek before she turned to open the fridge. “Keep your secrets then. I’ll be out in the living room, feeding our daughter.”

“We were just talking about this new band she’s signing,” Ende said calmly, rolling her eyes a little.

“Oh, Julie and the Phantoms?” T’Nia asked, pausing on her way back to the living room, resting her hand on the small of Maggie’s back. “They’re very good. Nice kids too.”

“I told her,” Maggie said slowly, “that they remind me of Reggie and the boys.”

“Ah,” T’Nia nodded, and _God_ , Maggie was so glad she’d married a smart woman. “There’s similarities, definitely, even appearance-wise. They’re very talented too. Julie actually found us; her parents own the house Reggie’s band used to rehearse at. Some of their things were still there, and she came to return them to Maggie. It was very kind of her.”

Maggie swallowed. “It was,” she agreed, before holding out her wrist, “She found my bracelet.”

Ende bent forward and cooed at the cheap, brightly colored plastic beads, and T’Nia shot a smile towards Maggie, pecking her on the cheek before she left the kitchen again.

She’d need to talk to the boys and Julie when they returned to L.A., she thought idly. They needed to be prepared in case Alex’s parents or Luke’s parents recognized them if they were on stage. They shouldn’t— _couldn’t_ —take the risk of being caught unawares again, like Julie had been when Maggie recognized Reggie in their Youtube video.

They needed to be prepared.

Luke’s parents were older, and Maggie knew they tended to avoid music because it _broke_ their hearts still, knew that Luke’s room was exactly how he had left it, but she knew that if they ever caught a glimpse of Julie and her little ghost band, they’d recognize their son as easily and as quickly as she had recognized Reggie.

She hadn’t heard from Alex’s parents in _years_ , but she imagined his mother, at least, would know her son if she saw him. Bobby, too, remained an unknown factor, and if Maggie had any idea how to get in touch with him without arousing his suspicions, she would.

The last time she’d spoken to him was when she’d been twenty-one and had tracked him down after a concert, threatening to sue him now that she was an adult, begging him to tell her _why_ , _how_ —how he could’ve betrayed Reggie and Luke and Alex the way he had, how could _stand_ himself—

He’d let her yell and then had security escort her out.

She didn’t know how he’d respond to seeing the boys again—and of every family member out there, Bobby was the most likely to find out about the boys. His daughter, apparently, was in the same school as Julie, in the same _class_.

It was only a matter of time before Bobby found out and Maggie wanted to be _ready_ when he did.

Bobby had taken enough from the boys already.

She wasn’t going to let him take another thing. 

**\-------------**

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (2:17 p.m.)  
WILLIE**

The Hollywood Ghost Club had been a remarkably pleasant place to live in recent months, more so than it had been in _years_ , and Willie didn’t trust it one bit. Caleb hadn’t always struck him as a power-hungry tyrant, and Willie was actually pretty sure he _hadn’t_ been one, initially.

Willie hadn’t been dead for nearly as long as Caleb had been, of course, and he didn’t know the specifics of how Caleb had died or how he’d ended up running the Ghost Club, but he knew the man that had taken in a terrified, nineteen-year-old ghost and showed him there was more to the afterlife than pain and fear.

He knew the man that had, in the early years of Willie’s own afterlife, sought to protect the deceased community of Los Angeles and had used his stamp only to control ghosts that had long since lost their humanity, that posed a threat to lifers and ghosts alike.

He knew the man that had tried so hard, in the beginning, to help Willie figure out his unfinished business, and that had comforted him when Willie came to terms with his unfinished business remaining undiscovered. Willie wasn’t sure when that had _changed_ , when Caleb had started using his power and influence to gain _more_ power, to gain _more_ influence, when he had gone from caring and empathetic to manipulative.

He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t noticed before the other ghost had tried to _force_ Alex and his friends into joining the Club, before Caleb had actively threatened him and the boy Willie _really_ , _really_ cared about, but now that he had, he couldn’t stop himself from noticing everything about Caleb. In the wake of the boys breaking free of the stamp—and Willie wasn’t ever going to forget the all-encompassing _relief_ he’d felt when Alex had poofed into the skatepark after the show—Caleb had thrown an unholy tantrum that had wrecked the entire Club and had sent all of the ghosts cowering in their personal chambers.

The next day, he’d acted like nothing was wrong, and he’d made Willie promise to tell the boys that Caleb wanted to call a truce. That, as long as they left Caleb alone, he would leave them alone _and_ , as an added benefit, he even allowed Willie to spend as much time with Alex as he wanted.

Willie was a little suspicious of it, but it _did_ mean he got to spend time with his drummer boy, so… maybe he didn’t look into as hard as he could’ve.

In hindsight, that was probably a mistake.

He hid just out of sight, listening to Caleb talk to someone Willie couldn’t quite make out from this distance, his stomach turning at the casual tone of the conversation when the subject was so abhorrent that he could barely stomach it at all.

“And you’re sure they’ve got the potential we’ve been seeking?” Caleb demanded.

“Absolutely,” a female voice Willie didn’t recognize replied. It was a high, shrill voice, with a thick accent Willie couldn’t place, and he frowned, trying to figure out why Caleb would be meeting with a stranger to talk… whatever they were talking about.

“We don’t want a repeat of the last time,” Caleb replied smoothly, but Willie could hear the threatening undertone in his voice and shivered a little.

“How was I supposed to know they’d disappear for twenty-five years?” The woman exclaimed. “They were popular, people were supposed to talk about them _constantly_. Their ties to the world should’ve been _far_ stronger than it turned out, you know that as well as I do.”

Caleb harrumphed, but didn’t offer a rebuttal.

“This man _radiates_ power,” the woman continued. “It’s almost odd. He’s like a beacon. I saw many other ghosts being drawn towards him too. He’s alive, and very much so, but he has such _delicious_ potential it’s impossible to ignore. If we want him, we can’t wait to act, Caleb.”

Caleb hummed thoughtfully. “I’m sure you have thoughts towards ensuring he has unfinished business and will return to Earth?”

Their voices faded and Willie leaned back against the wall, feeling nauseated. They were… they were talking about _killing_ someone, about taking their life to make them a ghost so Caleb could _use_ him and his powers—whatever they may be, whatever they meant with _potential_ —and…

And… and the things they’d mentioned. _‘We don’t want a repeat of last time.’_

_‘…disappear for twenty-five years…’_

Oh God, he had to tell Alex.

He had to find Alex _right now_ and tell him what he’d overheard.

\---------------

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (2:23 p.m.)  
ALEX**

Alex never meant to spy on any of his bandmates, Reggie least of all.

In his own defense, Reggie rarely played music outside of the studio—mostly because all of the instruments were in there—and when there was music playing in the main house, it was usually Julie playing something with Carlos or Flynn, and now that everyone knew about the boys’ existence, Julie had told them they were welcome in the entire house any time.

Ray, too, had extended the same invitation and had even designated the guest bedroom for them.

Why Luke and Reggie never thought of using _that_ bed and room—with a door that actually locked—when they tried to take their relationship further was _beyond_ him.

So when Alex returned from his daily walk around the neighborhoods they used to live in, to see the things that’d changed, and had heard music drifting from Julie’s room, he hadn’t thought twice about poofing up there to see how she was doing and what song she was playing.

He hadn’t expected to find Reggie, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Julie’s bed with Luke’s acoustic guitar in his lap, songbook open on the floor in front of him.

He was singing.

Alex… Alex couldn’t remember the last time he had Reggie sing something more than a single line or a short verse by himself. His eye strayed back towards the songbook and he found, similarly, that he couldn’t remember the last time Reggie had let him see the pages of the songbook.

Of course, Reggie always shared his country songs, let him and Luke make fun of them good-naturedly.

Alex had known, though, that Reggie wrote _actual_ , _serious_ songs too, that the songbook was filled with songs about his parents and Alex himself, and Luke and Bobby and everything Reggie had ever had to deal with in his entire life. 

Reggie had always been a lot less… open about those songs.

Maybe, Alex mused as he listened to Reggie sing, with good reason. Emotion _oozed_ from every word he sang, and Alex could honestly say he’d _never_ heard Reggie sound like this.

Like… like his every emotion was laid bare for everyone to see and hear.

“…tired of all the will they, won’t they romance,” Reggie sang softly, quietly, voice thick with emotion, like he was on the verge of tears, “When you hold my hand, is it just by chance?”

There was a melancholy to the words… an unbearable _sadness_ that Alex could barely stomach from anyone, but even less so from Reggie. He _loved_ Reggie, in a different way than he had almost a year—or twenty-six—ago, when they’d still been together, when he’d still been hopeful that their connection was strong enough to _last_.

Before he’d realized Luke was in love with Reggie too and he didn’t stand a chance.

“Maybe this love is mad,” Reggie continued, still oblivious to Alex’s presence. “You’re filling every thought I have.”

Those words hit Alex harder, knocking the breath from his lungs. Reggie hadn’t ever been in love with anyone but Luke, not even Alex, and while he’d known that, it was still confronting to hear. He hadn’t known, even back then, that Reggie was suffering this much from his—then—unrequited crush on Luke and he _hated_ that he hadn’t seen it.

They’d spent _years_ together, spent _months_ actually dating, actually giving their feelings for one another a real chance, and Alex had _missed_ this.

How had he missed this?

“You’ll never know what you mean to me, ‘cause I won’t say,” Reggie very nearly whispered, “and you won’t ask me.”

And… and Alex should say something, should _do_ something to let Reggie know he was there.

This was so incredibly private, and Reggie hadn’t _chosen_ to share this with Alex, hadn’t _consented_ to this—this was Reggie’s soul, his heart, laid bare in a way he’d never allowed Alex to see before, not even when they had been at their most intimate.

Before he could say anything, do anything, though, Reggie continued singing.

“Yeah, will we, or won't we?” Reggie’s voice was so soft, it was nearly inaudible now, and he really was very nearly crying. Alex _itched_ to hold him, to hug him until Reggie would smile again, but he was frozen where he stood. “He said, "I don't love you, I'm sorry. I just didn’t want to be lonely”.”

Reggie’s voice _broke_ on the last word, and Alex acted on instinct, dropping to his knees beside Reggie. “Reg,” he choked, reaching out for his best friend, who _jumped_ at the sound of his voice, dropping the guitar with a _clang_ , kicking the songbook halfway across the room in surprise.

“Alex,” Reggie exclaimed, eyes wide with shock and a tinge of apprehension. “What the _hell_! How—how long—when—when did you come in?”

“A minute or so ago,” Alex admitted, ducking his head down and rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “I think I just caught that last verse.” He swallowed thickly, uncomfortably and said, “It was beautiful, Reg.” He then forced a smile and added, “Besides, don’t worry. I knew you were probably writing Luke soppy love songs back when we were dating.”

Reggie blinked at him. “You—I didn’t—I didn’t write that for _Luke,_ Alex.”

Alex… felt instantly wrongfooted.

Reggie _hadn’t_ … he _hadn’t_ been in love with anyone but Luke. He’d dated Ella for a couple of months and while he’d been pretty upset when they’d broken up, Reggie had later told Alex it’d been more about being afraid no one would like him than being sad about losing her.

So… so if it wasn’t Ella, and it wasn’t Luke, then… then…

He pretended his voice wasn’t shaking as he asked, “Who else would you have been writing sad, soppy _love songs_ for, Reggie?”

Reggie gaped at him. “Alex. Alex, you—tell me you’re kidding.”

“Reg,” Alex whispered, reaching out towards his friend, but Reggie shook his head, backing away and getting to his feet. Alex inhaled sharply and got to his feet again too. “Reg, please, I—”

“ _You!_ Alex, I wrote the song for you,” Reggie interrupted in a rush of words, cheeks flushed and his eyes downcast. “Back when we were… when we were together. I was gonna play it for you on your birthday, but then you… you said it wasn’t working, and we broke up, and I never showed you.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Alex choked, stumbling back a step.

He hadn’t… he hadn’t really expected that, even though he probably _should have_.

It didn’t _make sense_ though, because he’d been _so sure_ that Reggie’s feelings for him weren’t _like that_ , that Reggie loved Luke the entire time he’d been with Alex that—that he _couldn’t_ —he couldn’t _process_ this, couldn’t make it fit with what he’d known to be true since the day he said yes to dating a boy who was already in love with someone else.

“I—Reg—I didn’t—why didn’t—” Alex stuttered, trying _hard_ to make the words come out right, but his lips and tongue and mouth were working against him, and he couldn’t—

“Because!” Reggie exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Because you _asked_ me to let it go. Because you told me that you were done, that it wasn’t working anymore. I know where I’m not _wanted_ , ‘lex—I wasn’t going to push for something you didn’t want.”

Alex felt like Reggie had punched him in the solar plexus, knocking the air from his lungs. “Reg,” he breathed, shaken. “Reg, that wasn’t—you were— _of course_ , _I wanted you_.” He stepped forward and caught Reggie by the shoulders, keeping one hand on Reggie’s shoulder and the other on his cheek. “Reg, it was _never_ about whether I wanted you.”

Reggie looked at him with confused, wide green eyes, lips parted a little, raising his own hands to curl around Alex’s wrists and Alex realized, suddenly, abruptly, that he hadn’t been this physically close to Reggie since… since the last night they’d spent together after they’d broken up.

“What does that _mean_?” Reggie demanded quietly, insistently.

Alex exhaled shakily and dropped his hands from Reggie’s cheek and shoulder, turning to sit on the edge of Julie’s bed. Reggie stayed on his feet for a moment longer, staring at Alex with an indecipherable expression before he sat down next to Alex. “Reg, I wanted you _so much_ ,” Alex admitted, reaching out to take one of Reggie’s hands between both of his. He’d never really put this into words before, hadn’t ever even considered putting it into words and telling Reggie, but… But Reggie _did_ deserve to know why Alex had chosen to break up with him.

“But—” he tried, “but… you were still in love with Luke, even after… after we’d been _really_ together for almost a year, and then I figured out Luke was in love with you too, and—God, Reg, I _never_ wanted to be in the way of that.”

“Luke didn’t tell you how he felt about me until after we broke up,” Reggie interjected quietly, and when Alex managed to look up at him, Reggie mostly looked confused. “He told me.”

Alex nodded shakily. “I know. I knew, though,” he whispered. “I saw the way he looked at you, the way he couldn’t keep his eyes off you, the way he’d look away when he thought you would see, the way he’d blush when you hugged him.” He sighed, swallowing thickly, and looked down at their hands. “And I saw the way you looked back—even if you didn’t mean to.”

He looked up at Reggie again, at green eyes, watery and wide with surprise. “You _never_ looked at me the way you looked at him and _I wanted that_. I wanted someone who’d look at me the way you looked at him. I wanted someone who’d _pick me_ , and Reg—”

“Who said I wouldn’t have picked you?” Reggie interrupted quietly, shakily, and when Alex looked up at him, Reggie was looking at him like… like…

“Reg,” he said desperately. “Come on. Don’t be… don’t be cruel, okay, I can handle—”

“I was in love with you,” Reggie blurted, a blush high on his cheeks, the corners of his mouth turned down just a little and a frown on his forehead. “I’m not gonna say that I wasn’t still in love with Luke too, but Alex, I—I _loved_ you. And I thought—I thought that you just didn’t feel that way, so I got over it because _you_ ended it, and now… now you’re telling me that you broke up with me because _you_ decided I wouldn’t have picked you if I knew Luke was an option?”

\---------

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (3:46 p.m.)  
LUKE**

Luke poofed onto the pier a little before he and Reggie had arranged to meet, rubbing his hands over his thighs nervously. He and Reggie had agreed they could use some time away from the others, time spent with just the two of them—and since they’d never gone on dates while they were alive…

Reggie had suggested the beach and the pier because they’d walked it hundreds of times before and there were always people around, so they’d be able to hold hands and talk and watch other street artists play music and pretend they were a normal couple going on their first actual date.

Luke _was_ looking forward to it, but he had to admit he was a little nervous too, which was…

_Ridiculous._

“It’s just Reggie,” he told himself sternly. He’d known Reggie since they were kids, had hung out with him by themselves on countless occasions, had _been dating_ him for months at this point and had been in love with him for _ages_.

It shouldn’t be this daunting.

Before he could work himself into a tiff though, Reggie poofed onto the pier just a few paces from him and Luke’s corny little heart did a tiny flip in his chest at the sight of him.

“Hey,” he exclaimed happily, bounding towards Reggie and slinging his arms around him as soon as he was within reach. “It looks like there’s a good crowd, and I saw a couple of artists already, so—” He cut himself off when Reggie turned to look at him, green eyes bloodshot and filled with tears, cheeks pale and his lower lip red and swollen, like he’d been chewing on it all day.

“Reg,” Luke breathed, shocked, raising a hand to touch his boyfriend’s cheek lightly. “What’s going on, baby, you look—”

Reggie blinked, like he hadn’t really registered Luke was even there before he’d said something.

Then, “I… I kissed Alex.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Please blame my roommate for the cliffhanger, she said it's where I should end when I let her read it)  
> (pinkie promise everything is gonna be fine, this probably the angstiest it gets)


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> Next chapter, unbeta'd so far. Any mistakes are mine. 
> 
> This is the last chapter I had a plan for, and since I still have one more exam, that unfortunately takes precedence before I can get back to planning and writing. 
> 
> I'll try to get things out soon though!
> 
> Thanks for all the lovely feedback, please feed me more <3 
> 
> Love  
> Annaelle
> 
> PS Thanks to all my lovelies on the Discord server for helping me work through this chapter. You know who you are.

**THREE**

_“I stood still, vision blurring, and in that moment, I heard my heart break. It was a small, clean sound, like the snapping of a flower's stem.”_

**_—Diana Galbadon_ **

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (3:56 p.m.)  
LUKE**

Luke had written his bandmates countless songs over the years.

He’d written Alex and Reggie cute little bobs when they’d been kids, with easy beats and clumsy lyrics, had written Alex several love songs while they’d dated and dozens of apologies after they’d broken up. He’d written Reggie ballads and love songs, had written him _country songs_ because he knew that Reggie loved those, had written down everything he didn’t know how to say into _Crooked Teeth_ and dozens of unnamed songs, hidden in the back of his songbook.

_Listen closely to the songs I play because the lyrics speak the words I fail to say._

Luke couldn’t remember where he’d heard that line, but it described his own thoughts and process so well it stuck with him. It helped him deal with how he saw the world, helped him figure himself out when he got into arguments with his mom, when how he felt about Reggie threatened to entirely _overwhelm_ him—

When the thoughts in his head were entirely too loud.

Since they’d died, since they’d met Julie, since Luke had told Reggie how he felt about him, he hadn’t been as overwhelmed by his own thoughts so much. He hadn’t felt anything akin to that overwhelming storm of emotions since their deaths, but Reggie’s words now fed into that maelstrom mercilessly and Luke felt like he was going to be sick.

Since the day Luke had found out that Reggie and Alex had had a semi-serious relationship when they’d been alive, he’d been a little afraid of what that meant for his own relationship with Reggie.

Not because he didn’t trust them—quite the contrary.

He’d readily believed his friends when they’d assured him that what they’d had was over, of course, and when Reggie had confessed that he was in love with Luke too, Luke had been so stupidly happy that he hadn’t given Reggie and Alex’s previous relationship a second thought.

For a while, it’d even stayed that way.

Alex and Reggie were more open about their past, joked and laughed about it, and while Luke was fine with it, the thought of his current boyfriend and his ex-boyfriend together flustered him more than he liked to admit to anyone—even himself.

It was just _a lot_.

He’d been _very_ much into Alex, at one point, and while Luke currently had very little desire to find out of Alex still kissed the same way he did when they’d been fifteen, he wasn’t _blind_ either. Alex was pretty damn hot, and Luke didn’t blame Reggie for having seen that _at all_. And Reggie… Luke was _obviously_ in love with Reggie and very much into _everything_ about the other boy, and Luke…

Luke was not jealous of Alex and Reggie’s past relationship.

…a little _too_ into the aesthetic idea of the two of them together?

Probably.

But he wasn’t jealous.

After all, Luke had dated Alex too, at one point, and it would _very_ hypocritical of him to make an issue out of Reggie’s past with Alex while still expecting Reggie to be okay with Luke’s own past relationship with him.

He’d not been suspicious about them, their relationship or their continued close friendship at all.

Maybe he should’ve been.

He sat down heavily on the beach, leaning his elbows on his knees and digging his hands in his hair, blinking _hard_ at the sand. “Reggie,” he said slowly, his voice hoarse and shaking lightly. “Would you please _sit down_ and _talk to me_?” He looked up to his boyfriend, who was pacing restlessly in front of him, still pale and shaky and utterly apologetic, and immediately looked back down.

He couldn’t—he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at Reggie without wanting to _scream_ and he had promised himself—and Alex, but he couldn’t quite manage thinking of his other friend without wanting to scream either—a long time ago that he wouldn’t ever yell at Reggie if he could help it and he wasn’t going to start now.

However justified he might be.

Reggie let out a shuddering breath and paced one more round before he plopped down in the sand in front of Luke, the tips of his boots nudging lightly against the nose of Luke’s worn sneakers.

“Okay,” Luke exhaled. “Okay. What happened?”

He steeled himself before looking up at Reggie, who was looking at him with an expression that bordered between desperate and guilty. “I kissed Alex,” Reggie whispered, and the words hit Luke just as hard as they had the first time, knocking the breath from his lungs and squeezing tightly, painfully, around his heart, and more than upset to hear the words again, he was _sad_ because his best friend and his boyfriend had kissed behind his back and he was _angry_ because something was _clearly_ happening between Reggie and Alex and he’d been left out again and he wanted to know _why_.

“I heard you the first time,” Luke hissed through gritted teeth. “ _Why_ would you—” 

“I don’t _know_ ,” Reggie exclaimed, eyes wide and filled with tears, “I don’t know, _Luke_ , but I swear—”

“Reginald,” Luke interrupted, his voice trembling with barely suppressed anger—because he _was_ , he _was_ angry that his boyfriend had seen fit to appear on their first date just to tell Luke he’d kissed their best friend, his _ex-boyfriend_. “Reggie. Baby. I’m trying _very_ hard not to be mad at you and to let you explain, but you’re gonna have to do better than ‘ _I don’t fucking know’_.”

Reggie looked taken aback by his harsh tone and Luke felt a little bad for raising his voice, but he _deserved_ answers. To his credit, Reggie looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears but determined too, like he was just as set on providing answers as Luke was to find them.

“I’m not trying to weasel out of anything,” Reggie said, his voice trembling ever so slightly. Luke watched as he pulled the sleeves of his flannel down over his hands, twisting the fabric tightly around his fingers. “I—when we—it’s just… back when we broke up, Alex never really told me _why_. All he ever said was that he didn’t think it was working anymore, and I—”

He broke off, sucked his lower lip between his teeth, biting down so harshly Luke could see little beads of blood well up—he hadn’t thought they _could_ bleed anymore—and shook his head.

“Reg,” Luke breathed, reaching out before he could stop himself, tugging Reggie’s lip out from between his teeth gently. Reggie exhaled shakily, leaning into Luke’s touch just a little, eyes fluttering shut for a heartbeat before he leaned back and continued talking.

“I loved him,” he said frankly, honestly, “A lot. And I was _so_ ready to tell all of you about us. But we’d promised, you know, when we first got together, that we’d just tell each other when it wasn’t working anymore, because we never wanted to risk our friendship, and he did, so I did my best to get over it, and I wrote… I wrote a lot of songs.”

“Reg—” Luke whispered quietly, reaching out for Reggie’s hand, because he was still upset but he couldn’t _stand_ to not be touching Reggie anymore.

Reggie offered him a shaky, apologetic smile and twined their fingers together. “Today I was—I was going through my songbook, you know, and I did in Julie’s room, because I didn’t… I wanted to look by myself, and I found… I found a couple of the songs I wrote after… after we broke up.” He breathed in shakily and added, “I hadn’t really looked at them since I wrote them, but now… it didn’t seem so daunting anymore, so I played them.”

Luke exhaled, suddenly flush with understanding. “And Alex heard you.”

“Yeah,” Reggie whispered faintly, before he inhaled sharply and continued, “Alex—Alex walked in, and he heard the song and we… _argued_ , I guess, and we—we talked, _I_ talked and Al—Alex said—”

“Reg, baby,” the endearment fell from his lips before he could stop himself, “You’re rambling. You’re not—you’re not making sense.”

Reggie nodded sharply and closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. “We argued. And talked,” he repeated. “And Alex told me he broke up with me because he figured out you were in love with me too.”

Luke… Luke didn’t know what to say to that.

He’d _never_ , for a single moment, even considered that a possibility. “He did _what_?” He breathed, shocked.

“Yeah,” Reggie choked, shaking his head, and Luke could feel the way his fingers trembled between his own. “Yeah, he… he said that—that I would never have picked him if I knew you were an option, and I _hate_ that he took that choice away from me, because I _loved_ him.” He looked back up at Luke with teary eyes and admitted, “I love you, so much, Luke, but I think I loved him first, before I even knew I did. But then he broke up with me and I—I put it out of my mind.”

And for the first time since Reggie appeared in front of him tonight, Luke felt like he… he understood what had happened between his two best friends—between his boyfriend and his ex-boyfriend. “And Alex telling you everything brought all of that back,” he sighed. “Everything you felt back then.”

Reggie’s lower lip trembled as he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. And I guess I—I kissed him because I wanted to know—I _needed_ to know—”

“If you still love him,” Luke finished.

Reggie gave him a pained, guilty look. “Yes. And no. I—I’m _always_ going to love Alex. He’s _Alex_. I don’t know how to _not_ love him. But it’s… it’s different now. It’s not like that anymore, not… Not like you. You’re… you’re _it_ , Luke. You’re the Jim to my Freddy. Luke to my Han. I fucking _adore_ you. And I’m _so, so_ sorry for doing this, for…” Reggie shook his head, blinking away tears. “… I’m sorry for hurting you. I never meant to.”

Luke swallowed thickly and looked away.

“I know,” he muttered. “I know, Reg. I just… I think that before you and I can talk about this any further, you and Alex need to. There’s… there’s _clearly_ a lot of things unsaid between the two of you, and you need to talk about that. Seriously. Hash everything out.” He inhaled deeply and looked up, trying to ignore the way his own eyes burned too, and whispered, “I’m giving you a _carte blanche_ for that. To do whatever you have to, just… figure yourselves out. And then I think all of us—you, me, Alex, _Willie_ … _we_ need to talk about it too.”

He squeezed his fingers around Reggie’s. “I think we’ve been putting this off way too long already.”

“Luke…”

Luke huffed a little in surprise when Reggie threw himself forward into Luke’s arms, ducking to bury his face against Luke’s neck, slipping his arms around his torso to hug him close. “I love you so, so much,” Reggie muttered. “And I’m sorry.”

Luke let himself have this, have this tight, warm hug, for a couple of seconds before he pushed Reggie back a little so he could look at him. “I love you too, Reg, you know that.” Reggie pouted at him, but he leaned into Luke’s touch when he tracked his fingers through Reggie’s hair nonetheless.

“I’m _hurt_ ,” Luke told him quietly, his eyes burning with tears. “But I love you. And I love Alex. I want you both to be okay.” He leaned in to lean his forehead against Reggie’s, brushing the tips of their noses together, breathing him in, _feeling_ him while he could.

“Thank you,” Reggie breathed, eyes shut and fingers tight on Luke’s sides, and God help him, but Luke was pretty sure he’d let Reggie shatter his heart into a million little pieces as long as it made Reggie happy, as long as it made him smile.

He hugged his arms tighter around his boyfriend and tucked his face against Reggie’s shoulder.

They’d figure this out.

\--------

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (4:29 p.m.)  
JULIE**

“Julie,” Flynn told her seriously, holding Julie’s face in her hands so she couldn’t look away, “sweetie. They’re _never_ going to give us openly queer characters in major Hollywood productions. Third Wonder Woman movie or not, they’re just going to keep focusing on her romance with Steve.” She pouted severely, and Julie knew she was trying to convey just how much _agony_ the thought caused her, but all the expression really did was make Julie want to kiss her _ridiculous_ girlfriend.

“Flynn,” she chuckled, “I know they’ve been shitty about LGBT+ characters in the past, but it’s been getting better! There’s more and more openly queer characters in books and television shows every day, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll be on the big screen too.”

Flynn grumbled at her and dropped her hands, but she still smiled and kissed back when Julie leaned in to press their lips together. “You’re too hopeful for this world,” Flynn groused as she settled back against the large pillow she’d propped up against the armrest of the couch. “They’re going to make her straight, you’ll see. She had a relationship with a guy, they’re never coming back from that.”

“Excuse you,” Julie gaped, tossing a smaller pillow at Flynn in indignation. “Bisexuality is a thing!”

“I grew up with you,” Flynn snorted, throwing her pillow back. “I’m _dating_ you. How I could forget?”

She stuck out her tongue and Julie really had no choice but to retaliate, because they may be dating and in love and Julie was very much invested in making sure Flynn remained attracted to her, but they’d also known each other since they were three.

They were allowed to weird and childish to each other. It was part of the fun.

Of course, it was just as much part of the fun when Flynn crawled across the length of the couch and wedged herself between the back of the couch and Julie, tangling their fingers together as she lay her head on Julie’s shoulder. “We should do this more often,” Flynn said quietly after a couple of seconds, sliding closer still, her knee knocking against Julie’s as she shifted.

“Do what more often?” Julie frowned, glancing from the television, playing a random Golden Girls episode, to her girlfriend.

“ _This_ ,” Flynn repeated, gesturing lazily at their entwined limbs. “Cuddle, talk, have a date night with just the two of us. Without the guys. They’re always around,” she pouted, trailing her fingers up and down Julie’s arm, sending a pleasant shiver down the length of Julie’s spine. When she abruptly stopped, fingers hovering just over Julie’s elbow, it took Julie a second to stop herself from whining out loud, and an incredulous glance towards Flynn, who was squinting suspiciously at the rest of the room.

“They’re not here now, are they?” Flynn demanded.

Julie grinned and pushed one of Flynn’s braids behind her ear. “No,” she said. “I would’ve told you if they were. Reggie’s up in my room though—he wanted some privacy to look through his songs before his date with Luke, and Alex had a date with Willie, I think.”

“What about Luke?” Flynn asked, settling back against Julie’s shoulder, turning her head so that her lips grazed against Julie’s throat.

“I don’t know,” Julie exhaled. “Probably visiting his parents or pacing the pier until it’s time for his date with Reggie. He was really nervous about it.” She chuckled at the memory of Luke poofing into her room, wide-eyed and panicked, demanding she tell him how to behave on a date with his best friend. 

“Oh,” Flynn hummed, rolling her eyes a little as she resumed the soft, rhythmic strokes of her fingers on Julie’s arm. “Poor guy. Imagine not knowing how to talk to your best friend while you’re on a date.” She fell silent for a second and then asked, “I thought they’d been dating since we found Maggie? How have they managed to avoid going on a date for three months?”

Julie snorted a laugh. “ _Apparently_ they’ve been too busy doing other things to actually go on a date.”

Flynn wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “ _Boys_.”

“You brought them up,” Julie laughed, giggling when Flynn grumped and then tugged her closer for a soft, lazy, chaste kiss—her dad and Carlos _were_ in the other room, after all. Julie hummed contently into the kiss and draped her arms around Flynn, pressing more firmly into their embrace. “I did miss this,” she breathed against Flynn’s lips, barely allowing herself the luxury of pulling away to actually _say_ the words. “Let’s not go so long without spending time alone together again.”

Flynn giggled in response and tangled her fingers in Julie’s hair. “Agreed,” she replied breathily, before leaning back in and taking Julie’s lips in a breathtaking kiss again.

Julie sank into it, relishing in the fact she didn’t have to worry about her dad and little brother walking in and interrupting them. Her parents and brother had always been very respectful of her relationship with Flynn, had always taken it seriously and had always awarded them a level of trust that most teenagers were not given so easily.

She grinned against Flynn’s lips, and when the kiss broke, she breathed in deeply, giggling when Flynn nudged their noses together playfully. “We should go out too,” Flynn said. “On an actual date. We haven’t done that in forever.”

Julie hummed. “True. We could go see a movie, get sushi, people watch for a while, rate their outfits.”

Flynn nodded and leaned in to peck her lips again, tightening her fingers in Julie’s hair a little as they kissed. “Sounds perfect,” Flynn whispered.

Julie was just leaning in to kiss Flynn again when she heard the soft, subtle _poof_ of a ghost appearing in the room and looked up, ready to tell whichever of the boys interrupted them off, and then froze when she realized it was Willie. Willie _never_ came into the house without Alex or Reggie or Luke, and he certainly never poofed in unannounced.

He looked… he looked a little spooked, actually, eyes wide and confused and lips parted in what looked like shock, and a thrill of alarm ran down Julie’s spine immediately. “Willie?” she said, sitting up and pushing Flynn off softly. “Are you okay?”

Flynn made a concerned sound and Julie flashed her a quick, hopefully reassuring smile before turning back to Willie, who had now turned his wide, surprised eyes on her. “Shoot, I’m sorry,” Willie blurted, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to poof in here, my aim—my aim must’ve been off. I was—I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Julie said soothingly, because Willie seemed _extremely_ wired and it was _very_ unlike him. “Were you looking for Alex?”

Willie blinked rapidly a couple of times and Julie noticed him shoot a nervous glance up to the ceiling. “Uh,” he said hoarsely, “Yeah. Yes, I—I think he and Reggie are busy talking though, and I—I didn’t want to interrupt, to bother them, so I… uh—I’ll just… I’ll come back later.”

“Alex is up there with Reggie?” Julie frowned, glancing towards the ceiling too. “I thought he was with you. Didn’t you guys have a date planned?”

Willie exhaled shakily. “Uh, yeah, I was late, I was very late, I was at the Club and I heard—” he broke off, and his expression flitted through several emotions so fast that Julie couldn’t even make out half of them before he settled on worried. “Shit, I—I heard something, and I need to tell the guys, I can’t—shit, I can’t let this wait.”

“Uh,” Julie frowned. “Okay. How about I go up and get Reggie and Alex, and you poof down to the studio. Luke’s probably there, and I’ll come down with the other two, and you can tell us what you overheard, okay?”

Willie nodded shakily and smiled, “Okay. Thanks, Julie.” He poofed out before she could say anything else, and she turned to Flynn with a slight grimace.

Flynn smiled tightly. “Ghost emergency?”

“Yeah,” Julie sighed. “I’m sorry. Willie seemed really shook up, I don’t think it’s a good idea to ask him to postpone whatever this talk is.”

Flynn raised a hand and stroked her cheek gently, offering a kind smile. “It’s fine. Do what you have to.”

Julie exhaled in relief and leaned in to press a brief kiss to Flynn’s lips before getting to her feet and hurrying up to her bedroom to find two of her wayward ghosts. She wasn’t sure what was going on, why Willie was so shook up—whether it was Alex and Reggie’s conversation or whatever he’d overheard at the Ghost Club—but she was going to find out.

\----------------

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (4:31 p.m.)  
ALEX**

Alex sat frozen on the edge of Julie’s bed, staring at the far wall in a daze.

He could still feel the imprint of Reggie’s lips on his, could still taste that _damn_ chapstick Reggie used to wear when they were alive because his lips were perpetually dry and split and the most prominent thought in his head was that Reggie still kissed the same way he had when they were alive and—and—

He just kissed his ex-boyfriend.

Or… _got_ kissed by his ex-boyfriend. Who was also his best friend’s boyfriend.

Reggie had written him _songs_ , had wanted to tell everyone about their relationship, had told Alex that he’d _loved him_ and Alex—Alex would’ve kissed him if Reggie hadn’t moved first.

What the hell was he supposed to do with that?

Reggie—Reggie had a boyfriend, who was Alex’s best friend, for God’s sake. Reggie _loved_ Luke and Alex _knew_ that he did. _Alex_ had a boyfriend—a boyfriend he _loved_ , and Christ, how was he supposed to tell Willie about this? How the hell was he going to explain all of this? He’d promised Willie there wasn’t anything to worry about because he and Reggie had been broken up for months even before they’d died.

God, what if Willie hated him for this? For not recognizing that he’d broken up with Reggie for the wrong reasons, for not recognizing that he should’ve talked to Reggie about this ages ago, before Luke and Willie were also involved, before he broke Reggie’s heart all over again—

Crap, what the hell was he supposed to do now?

The thought of trying to talk to Willie or Reggie or Luke left him breathless in a way he hadn’t been since he’d died, since death had cured him of asthma or anxiety-induced panic attacks, and his head was _spinning_. His breath was wheezing in his lungs even as he tried to remember the counting system he’d used when this happened when he was alive, and his breathing was _way_ too fast and he was getting lightheaded and he didn’t know if ghosts could faint but he had a vague idea he was about to find out.

“Alex?”

His head snapped up and suddenly Luke and Reggie were standing in front of him and that—that would just make things worse, wouldn’t it? He was almost afraid to look at Luke, to see the anger and hurt on his best friend’s face, hurt that _Alex_ caused—

“Hey, hey, come on, man,” someone was kneeling in front of him, but his vision was a little blurry and he still wasn’t breathing quite right. “’Lex, listen to me,” and that was Reggie for sure, “I’m going to count, and you’re going to match your breath to it, okay? Just like we used to when this happened before.” He could feel Reggie’s hand on his chest and Luke leaning against his side, warm and solid and soothing in a way Alex didn’t deserve.

“One,” Reggie started, voice calm and soothing, “Two, three, four—”

Alex’s breath slowed more easily than it ever had when they were alive, and he didn’t know if it was because he was dead or because both Reggie and Luke were here and their presence was comforting even with how messy things were between the three of them.

Before long, the world stopped spinning around him and he felt a lot less like he was going to choke on thin air—if he even could anymore.

He wasn’t sure how long they sat like that, Reggie kneeling in front of him and counting quietly under his breath, hand pressed to Alex’s chest, and Luke sitting next to him, their shoulders pressed together and Luke’s fingers curled around his wrist, thumb rubbing soothingly over the inside of his wrist like he’d done hundreds of times when they’d been alive.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, words slipping from him before he could think about them. “Luke, I—”

Luke didn’t say anything for a moment, and Alex focused on Reggie, who looked like he’d been crying the entire time he’d been gone. Luke exhaled shakily, tightening his fingers around Alex’s wrist before he said, “I’m not… I’m not exactly _happy_ with either of you right now, but… but I do understand that you need to figure this out.”

Before Alex could even begin to process what that meant, the door flung open and Julie spilled inside, looking a little frazzled. “Good,” she exclaimed, “You’re all here. Come on, we have to go to the studio.”

“Jules,” Luke said quietly, “We’re kind of in the middle of something.”

“It’ll have to wait,” Julie shrugged. “Willie’s waiting for us in the studio. Apparently he overheard something at the Ghost Club and came here to tell you right away.” She bit her lower lip and added, “He looked very frazzled, Alex. We should see what’s going on.”

Alex exchanged a glance with Luke and Reggie and then nodded.

This thing between them had waited a year—or twenty-six—already.

It would keep a few hours more.


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! 
> 
> Sorry for the wait. I had exams and then I had to figure out my plot line. Please check the updated tags; and feel free to blame PJO_Connoisseur for all of it ;) 
> 
> A nice long chapter with A LOT of angst. Please prepare. 
> 
> Some of you will need tissues. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Love   
> Annaelle
> 
> P.S. I was too impatient to wait for this to be beta'd completely, so thanks to Juulna for checking grammar and such, and a future thank you to PJO_Connoisseur for when they check it for whether or not everyone is in character.

**FOUR**

_“Maybe a good relationship is just [several] idiots who don’t know a damn thing except the fact that they’re willing to figure it out together.”  
— _ **Unknown author**

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (4:36 p.m.)  
WILLIE **

Willie trailed shaking fingers across the cymbals on Alex’s drums and swallowed thickly. He’d been somewhat relieved to find that Luke wasn’t in the studio when he got here, because it gave him the precious few minutes he needed to collect himself, to get his thoughts in order before he’d have to see Alex again.

He didn’t know what he’d poofed in on earlier, and he wasn’t sure he _wanted_ to know either.

He knew that Alex and Reggie had dated, but he’d thought it long over. The way Alex had talked about it made it sound like it hadn’t been that serious to begin with, but whatever had happened up in the house today, it’d looked _far_ from casual before Willie had poofed out.

He didn’t think Alex and Reggie had even _noticed_ him.

Willie dropped his hand to his side and sighed. He didn’t _want_ to be suspicious about this, didn’t _want_ to be the kind of boyfriend that got weird around his boyfriend’s ex just because they were still close, because he knew how much Reggie meant to Alex, knew how much Luke meant to Alex and if he was going to feel weird about Reggie, he’d probably start feeling weird about Luke too, and Willie _wasn’t that guy._

He really wasn’t.

He trusted Alex and he liked Reggie and Luke both, and he’d never even considered being worried about it before—he’d even _joked_ about it with Reggie before.

And yet… he couldn’t get the image of his boyfriend sitting pressed close to Reggie, one of Reggie’s hands between both of his and their heads bent close together, out of his mind. It’d looked intimate as hell, and even if he hadn’t quite been able to make out their words, he’d still been very reluctant to stick around—hadn’t really wanted to see the way Alex would react when he saw him.

He didn’t want to see the guilty look Alex would undoubtedly have shot his way because it would mean that Willie was _right_ and there _was_ something Alex should feel guilty for.

Right now, all he’d seen was his boyfriend having a rather intimate discussion with his best friend.

Right now, that’s all it was.

 _God_. Willie hoped that was all it was.

They had bigger things to worry about. If what he’d overheard at the Ghost Club was even remotely true, Caleb had been after the boys for far longer than any of them had known.

He wasn’t sure what that meant, wasn’t sure _why_ , but he knew it couldn’t wait.

When the door opened and Julie filed in, followed closely by all three of the boys—and he wasn’t sure what to make of that, what to think of Luke having been in the house too, potentially with Alex and Reggie—Willie exhaled in a rush, running trembling hands through his hair before trying to smile at Alex, who was looking at him wide-eyed.

“Hey hot dog,” he tried, but his smile must’ve looked pained because Alex’s expression changed from confused to worried in a heartbeat and before Willie could stop him he was rushing forward, hands soft and gentle when he pressed them to Willie’s cheeks, like nothing was different, like Willie hadn’t seen him with Reggie earlier, like… like everything was the same it’d been yesterday.

“I’m fine,” he told Alex, leaning back enough so that Alex’s hands slipped from his cheeks. “I overheard something at the Club, I—I need you guys to sit down, okay?”

Alex blinked at him with wide, blue eyes, but he backed up obediently, settling on the couch beside Luke, who was pressed close to Reggie, holding Reggie’s hand in a white-knuckled grip and… shit, Willie _really_ didn’t know what was going on anymore.

“So?” Luke said, looking up at Willie defiantly. “What was so urgent?”

Willie blinked a little, taken aback by the harsh tone, but nodded anyway. “I overheard Caleb talking to someone—I don’t know who, I didn’t recognize their voice, but…” he swallowed thickly and wrung his hands together. “They were talking about killing someone. Killing them and making sure they came back as a ghost with… with powers.”

When he looked up, Reggie looked perturbed and confused, Luke’s expression very similar, while Alex looked a little green around the gills. Julie, on the other hand, was frowning impressively at him and demanded, “Did they mention a name? Any way we can find them and maybe warn them?”

“No,” Willie shook his head. “No, not really. Only that it was a man, and that—that ghosts were flocking towards him. Like… like he was a beacon, or something. Not enough to find him. But that’s not—”

“Willie,” Alex said shakily, but Willie shook his head and waved his hand dismissively.

“That’s not it,” he continued. “That’s not the thing I have to tell you guys. It’s—” He hesitated. “They mentioned making sure they didn’t have a repeat from last time… making sure he didn’t disappear for twenty-five years.” He trailed off there, leaving the implication of his words hanging in the air between them and watched as it hit all three of the boys differently.

Luke’s expression went from confused to baffled to _furious_ understanding, and it took Reggie a few seconds of complete confusion before he, too, looked like he understood what Willie was trying to say.

Alex, on the other hand, looked completely unsurprised, as though he’d expected Willie to say something like this, like Caleb arranging their murder was _expected_ rather than baffling, and though he looked nauseous and on the verge of an anxiety attack, he didn’t look as surprised as his two bandmates.

Julie, too, looked far less surprised than Willie would’ve expected.

“That makes sense,” Julie muttered. “That’s why he was so desperately trying to get you guys to join his club,” she told the boys, glancing towards them, “He lost you three once already, arranged for your murder, he couldn’t risk losing you again.”

“He said—” Alex said hoarsely, leaning forward with his elbows planted firmly on his knees, head in his hands, “The guy who killed us—Maggie said he always insisted ghosts made him do it.”

“Oh my God, that’s right,” Reggie breathed, his eyes wide.

“We have to find him,” Julie said reasonably, and Willie looked at her expectantly. “We have to find him and figure out what he knows—see if Caleb or whoever was working for him let anything slip or said anything that might point to why he wanted you guys dead.”

“Maggie knows,” Reggie whispered. “Maggie went to see him once, when she was still trying to figure out what happened to us. She knows where he’s locked up, she knows his name—”

“I’ll call her then,” Julie nodded determinedly. “I’ll call her and explain what we know, explain that we need to find him, so that we can figure out what we’re up against.” When all four boys blinked at her, she heaved a sigh and added, “We need to know _why_ he’s so dead set on having you guys join his stupid little club. If we know _why_ , we can start to figure out how to get him to back off.”

“I don’t know,” Willie said slowly. “Guys, he’s dangerous. He nearly killed you last time. Again.”

“He doesn’t know we’re onto him,” Julie pointed out. “It’s worth a shot.”

Luke nodded slowly. “Okay,” he said, glancing towards both Alex and Reggie before he nodded. “Okay, give Maggie a call; see what she knows about this guy, where we can find him, how we can talk to him.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and sighed, “Maybe she’d be willing to go with us to see him, since, you know…”

“We’re dead and he killed us,” Alex finished dryly.

Reggie looked like he was going to throw up and Willie could relate.

Now that that immediate crisis was out of the way, all he could focus on was the way Reggie kept darting looks at Alex and Luke, gnawing nervously on his lower lip, the way Alex was fidgeting restlessly and had been the entire time he’d been down here, even before Willie had told him what he’d overheard, the way Luke had planted himself between his own boyfriend and Willie’s and—

And he was probably reading too much into it, seeing things that weren’t really there, because he needed to _trust_ his boyfriend rather than jump to conclusions based on a three-second glimpse of a conversation between two best friends.

“Okay,” he said shakily, “I guess I—I guess that’s all I came here for. I’ll—I’ll go back before I’m missed, or before Caleb realizes I heard something, I don’t want—”

“Do you have to go already?” Alex interrupted, standing up from the couch with a hopeful smile and _damn_ if Willie wasn’t so fucking weak and gay for his handsome drummer boy looking at him like that. He could feel himself give in, could feel himself lean into Alex’s touch when the other ghost rested a hand on Willie’s elbow, letting the drummer steer him away from the rest of the group.

He focused his attention on Alex, who trailed his fingers down Willie’s arm to interlace their fingers.

“So, what’s up, buttercup?” Willie drawled as Alex pulled him towards the little flower nook, settling on the piano bench and smiling up at his boyfriend, because… because he wanted to trust Alex. He hadn’t done anything wrong, as far as Willie knew, and Willie certainly didn’t have any reason to be snippy towards him—being stressed about Caleb’s plotting and the future of the Ghost Club ghosts was no excuse to be an asshole.

“Uh,” Alex said, settling down beside him, fidgeting with Willie’s fingers. “I, uh—I was talking to Reggie earlier—”

“I know,” Willie interrupted quietly, and when Alex looked up, wide-eyed, he added, “I poofed into the house first, heard you talking, but—” He swallowed thickly and looked away, a little afraid to see the look on Alex’s face. “It looked hella intimate, so I poofed right back out, I—I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Oh,” Alex breathed. “You saw us?” And when Willie dared look up, Alex’s expression was one of complete and utter _panic_ , and Willie’s heart _sank_.

“There was something to see?” he asked faux-casually, even though he felt like he was going to hurl.

“Uh,” Alex stammered, cheeks flushing red as he averted his gaze. “Sort of?” he squeaked, looking up at Willie with an utterly apologetic expression. “It’s—we—I—uh. I kissed Reggie. A little.”

Willie exhaled and squeezed his eyes shut.

Just like he’d thought, then.

“What. The. Hell, Alex?” he demanded, pushing up off the bench to pace in front of it. “I mean, I—what exactly do you expect me to say to that?”

Alex looked up at him with big, shiny blue eyes, and _God_ , Willie hated that he loved him so much, that he loved Alex enough to want to stick around to listen to an explanation even after _knowing_ Alex kissed his ex-boyfriend and that Willie had been a hair away from catching them.

“It was my fault,” Reggie said, and Willie spun on his heel to find the other ghost standing on the other side of the piano, fidgeting with the sleeves of his flannel. “I kissed him. I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”

“No,” Alex interrupted, standing from the bench too, giving Willie a pleading look, “No, it—it’s my fault, honestly. Really, Reg, if you hadn’t, I—”

“Are you _seriously_ arguing about this right in front of me?” Willie demanded in disbelief, looking between his boyfriend and Reggie incredulously. Reggie flinched and Alex looked suitably chastened, and Willie felt like everything was falling apart all around him and he had no idea how to stop it.

Luke came up behind Reggie, hands pushed deep into the pockets of his vest, and said, “Just tell him what you told me, guys. He deserves an explanation as much as I did.” He glanced at Willie and added, “It’s not a justification, but… it’ll make some sense, at least.”

Willie stared, “You okay with this?”

“Oh, no,” Luke laughed, high and bitter and insincere. “No, I am _not_ okay with this, but at least now I know why it happened.”

“What does that even—” Willie began, but Alex cut in before he could even finish his sentence.

“I lied to Reggie,” he exclaimed, and when they all turned to stare at him, he continued, cheeks flushed, “When we broke up. I lied to him about why I wanted to stop what we were, and—”

“When we were talking about it,” Reggie interjected, “it was like everything came back. Everything I felt back then, everything I haven’t really thought about since we broke and I—I wanted—I needed—I needed to know if I still—if—”

“If you’re still in love with _my_ boyfriend,” Willie concluded, crossing his arms over his chest.

He was well aware he was being rude, but he didn’t feel exactly charitable either. Towards _either_ of them—Reggie might’ve kissed Willie’s boyfriend, but Alex didn’t seem exactly _sorry_ about it either, and Willie didn’t know what to do with that. After Alex had told him about his previous relationship with Reggie, he’d _sworn_ to Willie that he didn’t need to worry about it, that they were great friends still and that any and all romantic feelings were behind them and Willie had _believed_ him.

“So when you told me _this_ ,” Willie waved his hand between Reggie and Alex vaguely, “was all over, were you lying? Telling me what I wanted to hear?”

“No,” Alex said pleadingly, reaching out towards Willie. “No, Willie, I promise I wasn’t lying—I didn’t think— _we_ didn’t think—” Willie stayed where he was, let Alex take his hands in his, let his boyfriend draw him closer because he wanted to believe Alex, he _did_ —

“So what now?” he asked. “Am I just supposed to forget this happened?”

“No,” Alex shook his head, clutching at Willie’s hand so tightly it almost _hurt_. “No, I’d _never_ ask you to—Willie, I’m _so_ sorry.” Willie didn’t resist when Alex pressed his fingers to his jaw, guiding his chin up so Willie _had_ to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry,” Alex repeated. “I never, _ever_ want to hurt you, and I know that I am now, and I’m so sorry.” Alex’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears and the thing was that Willie _believed_ him, but he didn’t know how to just get past this either.

“Do you love him?”

Willie’s voice was barely more than a whisper, and he hated that Reggie and Luke were here to witness this, but… well, it was what it was.

Alex heaved a sigh and shrugged miserably. “I don’t know—I mean…” He glanced towards Reggie and gave a sad little smile, “I don’t remember how to _not_ love him. But I—I love _you_. And I—I don’t know if I still have romantic feelings for Reggie, and I—”

“I don’t know either,” Reggie admitted quietly. “I think we need to—to—"

Luke grimaced and Willie glanced between them with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “So,” he uttered slowly, “what, you’re asking permission to figure out whether you’re still in love with each other?” He looked at Alex in disbelief. “You want me to sit by and _watch_ while you and your only serious ex-boyfriend _figure things out_?”

Alex stared at him with a pained expression but didn’t say anything.

Willie scoffed, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. “You know,” he sighed. “I know I told you I’d do anything for you, hot dog, but…” He exhaled shakily. “I don’t—I don’t know if I can do this.” He looked up at his boyfriend—his wonderful, beautiful, _cheating_ drummer boy—and asked, “What if I say no? What are you going to do if I say I’m not okay with this?”

Alex blinked, opened his mouth to say something and when no words came out, closed it again.

It was enough of a confirmation.

Willie tried to ignore the sharp, shooting pain in his chest and shot a sad smile towards Alex. “Do whatever you want, Alex. You’re going to anyway.”

Before Alex could say anything else, he poofed out.

\--------------------

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (4:57 p.m.)  
LUKE**

Luke let a soft groan fall from his lips when Willie poofed out and Alex kind of crumpled down onto the piano bench, shoulders hunched and arms wrapped around himself.

“That could’ve gone better,” he muttered, rubbing a hand through his hair as Reggie fidgeted nervously beside him. Luke didn’t have to look at him to know his boyfriend’s eyes would be fixed on Alex—if today hadn’t happened, Reggie would probably already be by Alex’s side, clumsily trying to comfort him, and that meant the only reason he wasn’t was because he was holding back for Luke’s sake. Of course, if today hadn’t happened, Alex wouldn’t be upset in the first place.

Luke sighed again and nudged his shoulder against his boyfriend’s.

“Go hug him,” he said. “I’ll find Willie. Talk to him.”

Reggie looked back at him with wide, watery green eyes and whispered, “ _Luke_.” Luke smiled shakily and fit his hand around the back of Reggie’s neck, pulling him in so their foreheads rested together.

“I love you,” Luke whispered, tightening his fingers on Reggie’s neck. “And I hate this, but I get it. Talk. You’ve got some time. Julie’s calling Maggie, and I’ll go find Willie. Talk, figure out what you both need to to figure everything out, and we can talk.”

“I love you,” Reggie whispered in response and Luke smiled like it didn’t physically _hurt_ to hear Reggie say the words when he still might end up choosing Alex over Luke in the end.

He let Reggie go and watched, stomach twisting uncomfortably, as Reggie fit himself onto the bench beside Alex, looking away when Alex collapsed into Reggie’s arms. He wasn’t sure where to look for Willie, but the skatepark where Alex had introduced him to them seemed like the best place to start, so with one more glance to his best friend and boyfriend, he poofed out of the studio.

He didn’t find Willie at the skatepark, or the museum, or the strip or anywhere else—until he poofed up to the Hollywood sign, because he was pretty sure Alex had mentioned a date there once, and found Willie sitting on top of the ‘H’, slumped against the side, arms wrapped around himself.

Luke took a deep breath and tried to make sure he was calm, collected, before he poofed himself up onto the sign next to Willie. “Hey man,” he said casually, trying not to wince when Willie looked at him with glassy eyes, rimmed with red.

“Hi,” Willie croaked, before slumping back to rest his head against the cool metal. “Alex send you?”

“No,” Luke shook his head, shifting so he could sit with his legs curled up underneath him. “No, I just… If anyone knows how you’re feeling right now, it’s me, and… I mean, I definitely want someone to talk to, so I figured you might too.”

Willie huffed out a breath, shaking his head, and looked back at Luke. “How are you this calm? Your boyfriend cheated on you. With _my_ boyfriend. After they both _promised_ us there wasn’t anything to worry about, that their relationship was definitely over and done with.” His voice was shaky, just like it’d been on the night he’d confessed what Caleb had done to them, and Luke wished they were actually close enough for him to just wrap himself around the other ghost in a tight hug that Willie so very clearly needed—not to mention how much Luke himself wished someone would hug him.

“I’m…” Luke heaved a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair before he turned sideways to face Willie. “I’m not calm, or okay, or anything you seem to think I am. I think… I think that what Alex and Reggie did today is the most reckless, selfish _wildly_ out of character thing either of them has ever done in their entire lives.”

Luke swallowed thickly and fiddled with one of his rings. “And… I guess I… I get it. And that’s both better and worse, because I don’t like it, I’m not happy about it, but after I let Reggie explain, I did _get it_. I get why it happened and why they can’t just pretend that it didn’t.”

Willie blinked at him, lips parted, and Luke sighed again. “Okay, look, they didn’t really do a great job of explaining, earlier—”

“No shit,” Willie huffed, and Luke smiled a little despite himself.

“How much did Alex tell you about their relationship?” he asked cautiously.

Willie shrugged, but pulled himself up, turning so he was sitting cross-legged too, facing Luke. “He told me they hooked up a couple of times after you and he broke up, and that they tried dating seriously too, but that it didn’t work out, that their dynamic didn’t work so he broke it off a couple of months before you guys died.”

Luke shook his head. “So basically nothing,” he muttered. “Okay. There was a lot more to it than that. Reggie’s told me… well, not everything, I don’t think, but a lot more than that.”

Willie swallowed thickly. “Okay,” he whispered. “Tell me then. Why should I understand?”

Luke wrapped his arms around himself and leaned his head back against the side of the ‘H’. “They’d been… messing around regularly—and exclusively, despite what Alex seems to think—since ’92. Reggie had a girlfriend for a couple of months in ’93, but that didn’t really work out, and after that…” Luke sighed and shrugged. “After that he was only ever with Alex. Reg says they didn’t really call it dating or anything like that until ’94, but in hindsight it felt like it anyway.”

Willie looked away, and Luke kindly pretended he didn’t see Willie wipe at his eyes.

“So they _were_ serious,” Willie said quietly.

Luke shrugged helplessly. “I think so. More serious than they knew too.”

Willie sighed, but it sounded more confused and frustrated than angry this time, and when he looked back at Luke, his eyes were clear and dry. “So why’d they break up? If everything was so good, if they’d been together that long, if they were in love? Why would Alex _lie_ and say it wasn’t serious?”

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know, man. He can be a dumbass sometimes, and…” He shook his head and looked down, tangling his fingers in his necklace. “He didn’t actually say why he broke up with Reggie in there, did he?”

Willie shook his head mutely.

Luke sighed. “He figured out I was in love with Reggie too.” He rolled his eyes and admitted, “To be fair, it probably wasn’t very hard, I don’t think I was subtle about it at all, but… yeah, I think.” He fidgeted with his necklace nervously. “I think he freaked out a little when he realized how I felt. He’s always been… After he came out, his parents… they were never really cool again, and he hung onto us for support _a lot_.” Luke smiled sadly and said, “Not that we minded, obviously, but we became his entire family really fast and the idea of losing us _terrified_ him.”

He sighed. “I don’t know, of course, I haven’t asked him, but… I’ve seen him react in more illogical ways when he’s scared we’re going to decide we don’t want him around anymore.”

Luke bit down on his lip as he remembered Alex coming out to them, tears in his eyes, knuckles white with the grip he’d had on his fanny pack when they’d been thirteen, and the time Reggie had gotten into a fight with someone at school who’d insulted Alex and had his nose broken and Alex had somehow managed to blame himself—remembered those fraught first few days after their breakup, where Alex had walked on eggshells around him, terrified that Luke was going to kick him out of the band for not getting over his feelings fast enough.

“Reggie’s like that too,” he said quietly. “Abandonment issues. They’ve done weirder stuff than this.”

“So,” Willie said slowly, frowning hard. “So he broke up with Reggie because he was afraid you’d kick him out of the band if he didn’t?”

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know for sure obviously, and I doubt he did it with that consciously in mind, but… I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out he let his anxiety brain convince him that there was no way I’d let him stay around if we were both in love with Reggie, if he was _dating_ Reggie and I wasn’t, and broke up with him to save us all the trouble.”

Willie groaned and dug his hands into his hair. “…and that’s what he lied to Reggie about.”

“I think so,” Luke nodded. “He told Reggie it wasn’t working. That he didn’t feel the same way, so Reg kind of pushed away everything romantic he felt for Alex, refused to think about it.” He chewed down on his lower lip and said, “He wrote it all down, wrote dozens of songs, and never played them, until…”

“Until now,” Willie finished, looking up at Luke with reddened eyes.

“Yeah,” Luke whispered. “Until now.”

Willie heaved a very heavy sigh and thumped his head back against the wall behind him, staring up at the sky. “I get it,” he said, voice thick and choked. “You were right. It’s both better and worse to understand them.”

Luke nodded quietly.

They sat together in silence, and Luke wondered how Alex and Reggie’s conversation fared—and then promptly realized he wasn’t sure he wanted to know at all. He understood, and he sympathized because he loved Reggie and he could see how much this was hurting him too, could see how torn up Alex was over the entire thing and… and they were his best friends.

In the end all he wanted was for both of them to be happy.

That didn’t mean he was looking forward to having his own heart broken though.

“What the hell are we gonna do?” Willie piped up after a while. Luke looked back at the other ghost contemplatively and then shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I told Reggie to find out what they need to figure this—to figure themselves—out, to talk to Alex, but I don’t—I don’t know what is going to happen now.” Willie huffed a breath and jumped to his feet, pacing the little platform anxiously in a stunning approximation of Alex’s expert model strut, tugging his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t know what to do with this,” Willie exclaimed. “I want to understand, and I do, okay, but—but I don’t want to have to sit by and watch him fall in love with someone else.”

“Me either,” admitted Luke. “But what choice do we have? Demand that they don’t resolve their thing and have all of our relationships suffer for it?” Willie groaned and threw his hands up in exasperation before he plopped down beside Luke, leaning their shoulders together casually.

“At least we’ll have each other, right?” he joked, and he felt Willie huff a reluctant laugh before the other ghost tipped his head back against the wall, smiling weakly.

“Promise you’ll run away with me if this doesn’t end well?” Willie quipped, looking at Luke with an expression that was equal parts hopeful and heartbroken, and Luke found, a little unexpectedly, that he was willing to do a lot to erase the heartbreak from Willie’s eyes.

He nodded, offering him the most sincere smile that he could muster. “Sure. I’ll teach you how to play the guitar and you’ll teach me how to skate and we’ll make everyone jealous with how rad we are.”

Willie snorted a laugh, and Luke smiled too.

“We should go back eventually,” Willie said after they’d both fallen silent for a few moments. He sounded devastated at the mere prospect, and Luke was still a little taken aback by the strong urge he felt to shield his newest friend from heartache. 

“We don’t have to yet,” he said quietly. “We can just… sit here, for a while.”

Willie chuckled weakly and rolled his head to the side again, eyeing Luke carefully. “How’re you doing with all of this? You’ve said you’re not okay, but—”

Luke shrugged. “I mean… this sucks. This whole thing…” His voice broke, and he shuddered before he whispered, “I love him. I just… In the end, I just want him to be happy, even if that’s not with me.”

He smiled sadly. “I’m sure I’ll get over it if I need to.”

Willie gaped at him, and Luke stared back for a second before Willie huffed and yanked him in for a hug. Luke’s arms came up to grip at Willie’s shoulders automatically, and he blinked owlishly for a few seconds before he sank into the embrace. He felt Willie shudder in his arms and choked, “Bet you didn’t realize you needed a hug too, did you?”

Willie snorted a laugh right in his ear and Luke smiled.

“We’re going to work this out somehow, bro,” he whispered. “One way or another.”

\------------------------

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (4:43 p.m.)  
T’NIA**

She had just put Regina down for a nap and was headed back down the stairs to join her sister and her family for hot chocolates after their walk when she heard Maggie’s voice drift from the spare bedroom. She hesitated for a moment just outside the door, unsure if she should interrupt, before shaking her head at her own hesitation. She and Maggie had no secrets anymore, and as unbelievable as half of their life was these days, at least she knew Maggie wasn’t hiding things from her. 

She knocked lightly on the door, waiting for Maggie’s assenting grumble before she let herself in. 

Maggie sat cross-legged up against the headboard, wearing a much-too-large white linen shirt, her hair tumbling loose around her shoulders, a blanket tucked in tight around her waist and legs. It was, perhaps, the most undone and casual she had ever seen Maggie look in days, and it made her insides feel warm and her legs wobbly. 

The only thing that ruined the intimacy of the moment was Maggie’s unsettled expression as she stared down at her phone. 

“Hi,” T’Nia said quietly. 

Maggie didn’t look up, but the line of her shoulders stiffened just so, and T’Nia barely resisted the urge to run to her wife to offer comfort. It was an old urge, one she’d not experienced in quite some time, and one she wasn’t exactly pleased to feel again. Maggie hadn’t had a lot of bad days in the past three years, hadn’t needed to go to therapy more than once a month in even longer than that, but the risk of the depression hitting her hard was always there.

“Hi,” Maggie finally said, glancing up from her phone for a second before directing her eyes back down. 

“You doing okay, sweetheart?” T’Nia asked as she moved into the room, the door shutting with a soft click behind her. Even though she and Maggie didn’t actually spend much time in San Diego and even less time staying with Ende, the room was still cozy and warm and was quite similar to their own bedroom back in L.A. 

“Julie called,” Maggie said, still not looking at her, “They need my help locating—” She bit her lip and sniffed, “Jacob Tafani.” T’Nia stood rooted to the spot, warring with her instinctual response to _rage_ that Julie had exposed Maggie to a trigger like that so blatantly and her urge to run and comfort Maggie. 

“Why—are you—” she stuttered ineloquently, but Maggie mercifully shook her head before T’Nia managed to stutter her way through the question. 

“They think they’ve found the ghost who ordered them killed,” she explained. “And I’m not… I want to help them. They deserve to know what happened.” She looked up at T’Nia with shiny, wet eyes and whispered, “I… I’m just scared of what it’ll…” She shook her head again and choked, “I don’t want to go back there, T’Nia. I _can’t_ go back there.” 

She exhaled shakily. “Does it make me terrible to not want to? He’s my brother, I—”

T’Nia still felt shaken, unsteady and unsure of how to respond to her wife, but she moved towards her anyway. “Reggie loves you,” she said in a soft voice. “If you tell him this is… this is too much, he’ll understand. He’d never ask you to do this if you said it was too difficult.”

Maggie looked down and away, and T’Nia knew she was repressing her instinct to wave away T’Nia’s concern, her reassurance that Reggie wouldn’t want her to do anything she didn’t want to.

She was drawn from her thoughts when Maggie touched her hand to T’Nia’s lightly. “I know he wouldn’t ask me to,” she said quietly, seriously. “But... I want to help them too. Julie can’t get into the prison, I’m the only one who’s been there before. We know he’ll talk to me. It’s just not… not great.” 

“No,” T’Nia agreed. “No, it isn’t.” 

She looked down to their hands and swallowed thickly. “You know that I just want what’s best for you,” she then said in a rush of words. “Don’t you? And your brother adores you. No one is going to be angry with you for making this choice for yourself. No one will be offended if you can’t do this.” 

Maggie smiled tremulously. “I hope so.” 

\---------------------

**18 DECEMBER 2020 (5:17 p.m.)  
REGGIE **

There were shiny tear tracks on Alex’s cheeks and the whites of his eyes were more red than white, and Reggie had never seen him look this miserable—not when Luke had broken up with him, not when Alex had explained, tears in his eyes, that his parents weren’t okay with him being gay, not when he’d broken up with Reggie, sad and apologetic—and he hated it.

He didn’t want Alex to be miserable.

“Willie’s gonna understand,” he urged, pushing himself off from the arm of the couch, arms still clasped tight against his body, and taking a tentative step forward towards Alex, who looked at him, eyes wide and unsure and filled with _pain_ , but didn’t move back. “You and I both know he’s—he’s the coolest guy ever. He’s angry and he should be, you know, I did kiss his boyfriend, but—”

He breathed in shakily, hands trembling when he unwound his arms from around his own torso to reach for Alex before thinking better of it and pulling his hand back again.

“Alex,” he whispered, keeping their eyes locked as he took a tentative step closer. “I’m _sorry_ ,” he repeated the apology he’d been repeating for hours. “I’m _sorry_ that I kissed you and screwed everything up for you and Willie. _I’m sorry_ , Alex. I just got so confused when you—with—with everything.”

A tiny, involuntary sound fell from Alex’s lips and Reggie _wished_ he was brave enough to reach out to comfort him again, to show him that Reggie could deal with whatever leftover feelings he still had—he’d been able to do it thus far, and he could do it again. “We don’t have to do this,” he continued, ignoring the wobble in his voice as he pressed on, _desperate_ to make Alex smile again. “We’re not—you broke up with me for a reason, and I should—I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have pushed.”

He swallowed thickly and looked down at his hands. “Doesn’t matter why, right? We broke up. We moved on.” His voice _broke_ and his breath caught for a long, distended moment—he felt dizzy and afraid but also _strong_ because he should have said these things _hours_ ago, before he kissed him—before Alex lifted his free hand and lightly brushed his fingers across Reggie’s cheek, and Reggie’s breath left his lungs in a rush.

“Maybe,” Alex whispered. “But I still did it for the wrong reasons. And I lied to both of us. I thought,” Alex hesitated, “I thought you were okay with us breaking up. You’ve joked about it, you’re—you’re with Luke, you’re in love with Luke.”

“Because I thought we broke up because you weren’t in love with me,” Reggie replied unsteadily. “I thought you didn’t feel the same way I felt—I’m not a masochist, Alex, I don’t actually enjoy unrequited love. You told me it was over and I tried to move on.”

“Did you?” Alex implored, his eyes wide and _so_ scared and confused that it made Reggie’s heart clench.

“Yeah, I mean, I—I thought you didn’t love me, that you knew how I felt about you and… and didn’t want that,” he began, though he was hesitant, because he wasn’t sure about any of this, wasn’t sure _how_ to describe his feelings for Alex anymore.

“I didn’t think you wanted to schlep me off on Luke the second you figured out how he felt about me.” The words were deliberately blunt and Reggie _hated_ the way Alex flinched away, but he followed, staying close, not quite touching but close enough to feel the muted warmth from Alex’s skin radiating onto his own.

He’d promised Luke they’d start figuring this out and Reggie _wanted_ to.

“That’s not—Reg, of course I loved you. I loved you so much—” Alex tried, but Reggie was on a roll, was getting out all the things he wished he’d said back then, and he couldn’t stop.

“But not enough to fight for me,” Reggie interrupted. “Not enough to want to fight to keep me. I was _yours_ , Alex. You wouldn’t have had to fight at all; you should’ve just talked to me.”

“Reg...”

“Why wasn’t I—why weren’t _we_ worth fighting for, ‘lex?” His voice shook as he spoke and maybe he’d have been embarrassed if it’d been anyone but Alex hearing him like this, but it _was_ Alex. Alex had held him when he cried hundreds of times, had seen Reggie make a fool of himself a thousand times over, had seen him at his most vulnerable after his dad kicked him out and took care of him—there wasn’t much Reggie was ashamed to show in front of Alex.

Alex gave him the kind of heartsick expression he’d given Reggie the night he broke up with him, and this time he didn’t hesitate when he stepped closer, pressing both hands to Reggie’s cheeks. “Alex,” Reggie whispered, feeling off-balance and a little shaken and just a little afraid, because they’d screwed up once already today, and he _wanted_ —

He wanted everyone to be okay, he wanted to stop hurting Luke and Willie and Alex and himself and he wanted to be _sure_.

“We were,” Alex said softly, intensely. “We _were_ — _you_ were. And I wanted to, but…” He shook his head and admitted, “I was scared. I knew how you felt about Luke because you’d always been honest about it, and when I found out how he felt, I—”

“You ran,” Reggie whispered. “Like you always do.”

Alex looked taken aback. “Reg, I don’t—”

“Yeah, you do,” Reggie nodded, and he swallowed thickly, looking away. “You always had one foot out the door. You spent our entire relationship running away from me, from _us_ , Alex. Every time things were hard, or complicated, you’d run. The only thing different about the breakup was that I stopped chasing you.”

“That’s what you thought?” Alex choked, looking aghast as he stared at Reggie. “That I—that you were the one chasing me the entire time we were together?”

“Wasn’t I?” Reggie demanded, pushing away from Alex to settle back down on the couch. “Like when I told you how I felt about Luke, you stopped talking to me outside of band practice for two weeks, and when my dad kicked us out, you got so up in your own head you convinced yourself I’d break up with you so you tried to leave me first and I… I tried to keep you every time. By the time we broke up, I figured… I figured maybe I’d been trying to fight off the inevitable anyway.”

He drew his lower lip between his teeth and wrapped his arms around himself, blinking hard against the burn of tears in his eyes.

“Reggie,” Alex whispered, sounding devastated, and Reggie had barely had the chance to look up at him before Alex was suddenly on his knees in front of him, his hands large and warm on Reggie’s thighs. “I’m sorry,” Alex continued, his blue eyes wide and sincere, “I’m sorry I made you feel like I wasn’t all-in. I was—I really, really was. I wanted—I wanted us to be real, but—”

“We _were_ real,” Reggie interrupted hoarsely. “It was real to me, Alex.”

Alex’s eyes were glassy with tears as he whispered, “It was to me too, Reg. I think… I think I got scared of how real it was.” He looked down and reached out to take Reggie’s hand, tangling their fingers together. “Maybe… I got so freaked out when I realized how Luke felt because… because it’d change everything. If he told you and you picked him, I—” He broke off and looked away, and Reggie’s heart _ached_ , but Alex just exhaled a shuddering breath before continuing, “But if you _didn’t_ —if you’d have picked _me_ , us…”

“No denying how serious that would’ve been, right?” Reggie whispered.

Alex shot him a watery smile. “I told you,” he whispered. “You scare me, sometimes.”

Reggie exhaled a sob and nodded before slipping off the couch and throwing his arms around Alex, burying his face in Alex’s shoulder. They hadn’t hugged like this, just the two of them, since the last time Reggie had spent the night with Alex, a week after they’d broken up, and Reggie had almost managed to forget how much he _loved_ Alex’s hugs.

Alex took a second to catch up, to process what was happening before he wrapped his arms around Reggie’s waist, clutching at Reggie just as tightly as Reggie clutched at him.

“I’m sorry,” Reggie whispered against Alex’s shoulder, digging his fingers into the soft fabric of Alex’s hoodie.

Alex huffed a breath and whispered, “Me too, Reg.”

Reggie had no idea how long they stayed like that, kneeling on the floor in front of the couch, wrapped in a tight hug before the door creaked open and Willie and Luke stepped in. Reggie pulled away from Alex slowly, something that felt a lot like guilt twisting his stomach at the expression on Luke’s face, even though they hadn’t been doing anything but hugging.

He pulled himself back up the couch and looked up at his boyfriend, who shot him a small, uncertain smile. “Hi,” he squeaked.

Luke shared a look with Willie before he crossed his arms over his chest. “Willie and I have some… _concerns._ ” Willie nodded tersely without taking his eyes off of Alex, who stood beside the couch, fiddling with his rings nervously. “And ground rules,” Luke added. “We’re—you guys have to figure out how you feel about each other, and about us, and we get that. But there have to be ground rules.”

“Anything,” Alex blurted, and Reggie nodded urgently.

“Nothing happens behind our backs,” Willie said, voice steady but clearly wrought with emotion. “I—we get that this is hard to figure out and that emotions can run high, but—”

“We’ll tell you everything,” Reggie promised immediately. “Everything.”

“And try to avoid kissing people that aren’t your boyfriend,” Luke piped in, chewing on his lower lip, and when Reggie looked up at him, Luke was looking back at him desperately, fingers twitching against his biceps.

“And be honest,” Willie whispered. “Whatever it is, please keep talking to us.”

Alex nodded wordlessly and that seemed to be all that Willie needed to throw himself into Alex’s arms. Alex let out a soft, hurt sound and caught him, wrapping his arms tightly around Willie and Reggie couldn’t help but smile because he could see the softened line of Alex’s shoulders, the tension that had drained from him the second Willie touched him.

Reggie still wasn’t sure what he felt for Alex anymore, but… he really did just want to see him happy.

He tore his gaze from Willie and Alex when Luke sat next to him, hands shaking and lower lip pushed out just a little into a tiny pout. “Hi,” Reggie said again, quietly, tentatively reaching out for Luke’s hand.

“Hey baby,” Luke whispered, tangling their fingers together.

“I’m—" Reggie began, but Luke shook his head, leaning forward to rest their foreheads together.

“I know,” Luke said, squeezing Reggie’s fingers. “I know, baby. I forgive you. We can—we’re going to figure this out. All of us.” He sounded so sure, so convinced, like he’d bend the rules of the universe itself to make things right, and Reggie _believed_ him.

“I love you,” Reggie breathed hopelessly, because he _did_.

Luke huffed a laugh. “I know,” he said. “I know. I love you too, baby.”


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! 
> 
> I'm so very sorry for the long wait. 
> 
> I had a lot of work for uni (research papers are the bane of my existence) and I had to write a fic in another fandom for my beta ☺️ Anyway, without further ado, the next chapter! 
> 
> The next two chapters should be out faster, they're both halfway written! 
> 
> There's some minor time jumps in this and the next chapter, so pay attention to the dates! 😊 
> 
> Lots of love  
> Annaelle 
> 
> PS Thank you to kjstark for reading through this chapter, you're a hero! ❤️  
> PPS Excuse mistakes, my other beta will be looking through the chapter once she's feeling better ☺️

**FIVE**

**19 DECEMBER 2020 (4:43 p.m.)**

**JULIE**

“Hey, Jules?” 

Julie looked up from her math homework to find Luke hovering in the doorway, looking uncharacteristically hesitant, fidgeting with one of his rings as he waited for her to say something. 

“Hey,” she sat up, curling her legs underneath her. “Come in. You okay?” 

Luke rushed in, pushing her bedroom door mostly closed before he settled cross-legged at the foot of her bed, chewing on his lower lip. “Can—can I ask you something?” He asked, still so very hesitant, so very unsure that Julie didn’t know what to do with it. She’d never really seen Luke like this before, and she didn’t know what to make of it, but she had an inkling it had something to do with why the boys had been just slightly _off_ for a couple of days. 

“Of course,” she replied, pushing her books aside to show Luke he had her full attention. 

Math could wait. 

Luke smiled shakily and then exhaled, looking back down at his hands before he blurted, “Can you be in love with more than one person at a time?”

Julie blinked, surprised. Of all the things Luke could’ve asked, _that_ hadn’t been one she expected. “Oh,” she breathed, leaning back a little, “I—I think so. I mean, there’s… there’s plenty of people in happy polyamorous relationships, so obviously you can love more than one person at a time, but… I mean, _I_ ’ve never been in love with more than one person.” 

“Oh,” Luke said quietly, fiddling nervously with the clasp of his bracelet. 

“Luke,” Julie said softly, eyeing her friend carefully. “Are you—” 

“No,” he blurted, eyes wide. “No, I’m—but, uh—” he looked away and took a deep breath. “Reggie kissed Alex, and now they’re—they’re not sure about how they feel anymore. About each other or about me and Willie.” 

“Oh,” Julie said again, for a lack of anything better to say. 

She… she _really_ hadn’t seen this coming at all. She knew Alex and Reggie had dated, of course, but she’d been pretty sure Reggie was head over heels in love with Luke—it’d been very adorable, the way he’d follow Luke around like a hopeful little puppy, blushing and stuttering every time Luke turned his full attention on him, and yet still thinking none of them knew how he felt. 

It hadn’t gotten much better after they’d gotten together, so to hear that Reggie apparently still had feelings for Alex—who was so far gone for Willie it wasn’t even funny anymore—and vice versa was… unexpected, to say the least. 

“Yeah,” Luke sighed, rubbing a hand through his already messy hair. “Willie and I… I mean, we agreed to give them the chance to work it out, you know? To figure out if they’re still in love with each other, because,” he shrugged helplessly, “What else are we supposed to do? We can’t—we can’t just demand they forget about it. It’ll just backfire on all of us, and I—” he heaved a shuddering breath and Julie crawled forward, folding her arms around him in a tight hug, because he _clearly_ needed one and she really did hate seeing him upset. 

It was like seeing a kicked puppy. 

Luke shuddered against her, resting his head on her shoulder. “What if he falls in love with him again? What if he never fell out of love with him in the first place?” He whispered, voice shaking and cracking. “I can’t lose Reggie, Julie, I—either of them. They’re my best friends. I love them.” 

“Oh, Luke,” she sighed, running her fingers through his hair soothingly, smiling a little when he uttered a tiny little noise and then went boneless against her. She remained silent for a little longer, trying to figure out what to say to comfort Luke, to help him get through this the same way he and the boys had helped her work through her grief and anxiety. 

“Look,” she finally said, quietly. “Do you trust Reggie?” 

Luke stiffened a tiny bit before he admitted, “Yeah. But I feel like—like I shouldn’t, because he just kissed his ex-boyfriend, didn’t he?” 

Julie bit her lower lip. “Yeah. But he’s also your best friend. You know him—and Alex—better than anyone. And you know they made a mistake. It’s okay to trust them—to _want_ to trust him.” Luke exhaled shakily against her collarbone but didn’t say anything, and Julie resumed running her fingers through his hair. “Reggie isn’t just going to dump you for Alex,” she continued quietly. “That boy was in love with you even before I met you, and you know that too. I don’t know what’s going on with him and Alex, and it sounds like they don’t either, but whatever it is, I know neither of them would _ever_ want to hurt you or Willie.” 

“He was in love with Alex too,” Luke whispered hoarsely. “When we were alive.” 

Julie sighed. “Well. Have you—have you considered what you’d do if they _are_ in love with each other as well as with you and Willie?” 

Luke was silent for a long moment before he sat up, leaning out of her embrace with a frown. 

“Not much I _can_ do if that’s the case, is there?” He said, sounding defeated. He shrugged and pulled at a loose thread in his jeans. “I don’t want to break up with him, but if he’s in love with someone else, then…” Luke shook his head and looked down. 

“I said ‘too’,” Julie said with a vague smile. “I didn’t say he was only in love with Alex. I said ‘what if he’s in love with Alex _too_?’ Just because he has feelings for Alex doesn’t mean everything he feels for you is just going to disappear.” 

Luke blinked at her. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t—I don’t _want_ to break up with him.” 

Julie nodded. “Then you’re going to need to figure out if—potentially—you’re okay with him and Alex dating too, should they want to.” 

“I—” Luke choked. “We can do that?” 

“You can do whatever you want,” Julie told him encouragingly, patting her hand on his forearm. “No one can tell you what shape your relationship with Alex and Reggie and Willie should have except you guys. If— _if—_ Alex and Reggie genuinely are still in love, then you four need to talk about what you’re okay with and what not, what kind of relationship you’re all okay having—and that can be anything you all want it to be. No one is going to tell you it’s wrong.” 

Luke nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. “I guess,” he acknowledged slowly, before aiming a brilliant, wide smile at her. “Thanks, Julie.”

She smiled back and patted his arm. “Anytime. Now get out and let me do my homework.” 

\------------

**19 DECEMBER 2020 (5:03 p.m.)**

**LUKE**

Luke was privately a little relieved to find the studio empty when he poofed in. 

Talking to Julie had helped more than he had thought it would, had let him get things off his chest that he hadn’t realized he _needed_ to get off his chest until they’d fallen from his lips—and had given him _a lot_ of things to think about.

He plopped down on the couch and leaned his head back, blinking up at the ceiling blankly. 

Julie words ran through his mind on repeat, over and over, louder and louder, words overlapping until he couldn’t distinguish them from one another anymore. 

_What if he’s in love with Alex too? What are you going to do?_

Luke didn’t know what he was going to do. 

He’d meant everything he’d said to Reggie—he _did_ forgive him, he had as soon as he learned _why_ it’d happened, and he _wanted_ Reggie and Alex to figure out where they stood, not only for the sake of his own sanity and love life, but also for them. They’d been best friends for more than half their lives, and _nothing_ should ever get in the way of that.

It’d been the three of them against the world for so long, and then there’d been Bobby—although that hadn’t exactly ended _well_ —and Julie and now Willie and… and things had felt _right_.

And then… and then _this_. 

_What are you going to do?_

He continued staring up at the ceiling and heaved a very deep, very heavy sigh. 

What _was_ he going to do? 

He and Reggie had spent the night on the couch, wrapped up in each other’s arms, talking about everything and nothing—including a lot of things about Reggie and Alex’s relationship that Luke hadn’t actually known before. It hadn’t made him feel _better_ , per se, but it had helped him gain a new perspective, had helped him understand just how much Alex and Reggie’s romantic relationship had been entangled in their friendship. 

_That,_ he understood better than anyone else. 

He hadn’t realized he was in love with Reggie for the longest time because he already loved him—he’d loved him when they were seven and Reggie had offered to let Luke read his favorite comic book, even though it wasn’t supposed to come out of the package, and he’d loved him when they’d been ten and started playing the guitar together, and when they’d formed the band right after meeting Alex, and when they’d been fourteen and Luke had thought, for a while, that he loved Alex—he’d loved Reggie throughout all of it and it had taken him a long while to realize that love was romantic. 

He could see how it’d be hard for Reggie and Alex to figure it out too. 

_You’re going to need to figure out if—potentially—you’re okay with him and Alex dating too, should they want to._

He sighed again, but he tried imagining it.

What if Reggie really _was_ in love with both him and Alex? Luke wasn’t one of those people who believed there was one right way to love—he didn’t believe that Reggie could love only one person, or that it’d mean Reggie loved him _less_ if he also loved Alex, but… 

He ran his hands through his hair and pouted up at the ceiling. A small, very possessive part of him wanted to insist that Reggie was _his_ —a small, possessive part of him never wanted to even consider sharing Reggie, even with Alex. A larger, more dominant part of him recognized that Reggie was his own person and even though they were dating, Luke had no right to tell Reggie what to do or what not to do—and also recognized that he probably wouldn’t _hate_ seeing Reggie with Alex. 

He’d been… _into_ the idea of them together ever since he’d found out about them. 

He probably wouldn’t… _hate_ it if that’s what it came to. 

He remembered finding Alex and Reggie hugging tightly the previous day and promptly flushed when the memory _twisted_ into finding them kissing instead and—

 _Nope_. 

Nope, he was not going to go there, even if he, potentially, wouldn’t be upset about them kissing again as long as he got to _watch_ this time—but that was a _whole_ other conversation, a whole different ballpark altogether, and it was something he’d need to talk about with Alex, Reggie _and_ Willie.

Christ.

Luke groaned and pressed both hands flat to his face, shaking his head. _Why_ , why did Julie have to put the thought in his head—it was _all_ he was going to be able to think about from now on, and it wasn’t like he’d have to think very hard to imagine scenes like that. 

Granted, it’d been a while, but he’d kissed Alex and had been kissed by Alex _a lot_ , and they’d been a lot of firsts for each other before they’d broken up, and he’d spent the better part of the last four months of his afterlife kissing Reggie, figuring out the way he liked to be touched and the way he sounded when Luke kissed the sensitive spot on his neck, just below his right ear—

“Stop it,” he told himself out loud, dropping his hands back to his sides. “You can’t. You shouldn’t.” 

Because he really, _really_ couldn’t. 

This wasn’t about the way he felt about Reggie—and Alex—at all. 

Their feelings for each other had nothing to do with the way they felt about him or the way he felt about them, and even if Luke _would_ be okay with some kind of polyamorous arrangement in the future— _that was what Julie had called it, wasn’t it?_ —that didn’t mean _they_ would be, and he was getting _way_ ahead of himself. 

He stared ahead blankly for another minute—or ten, or fifty—before Reggie suddenly poofed in, his eye falling on Luke right away. “Hey,” he said shyly, approaching Luke a little cautiously, as if he hadn’t spent most of the previous night in Luke’s arms. 

“Hi baby,” he croaked, holding out a hand in invitation. 

Reggie beamed at him and immediately took his hand, curling up on the couch beside him, entwining their fingers as he rested his head on Luke’s shoulder. “How were Maggie and the others?” Luke asked casually, smiling a little as Reggie spun Luke’s thumb ring around lazily. 

“They’re fine,” Reggie said, “I swear I still think baby Reggie can see us. Her eyes follow me whenever I’m in the room—it’s unnerving, dude.” 

Luke chuckled. “Maybe it’s a thing. Who knows if babies are more sensitive to that kind of thing?” 

Reggie hummed thoughtfully, before turning to nuzzle at Luke’s cheek. “What did you do today?” He asked lightly, leaning his entire body into Luke when Luke settled his arm around his shoulders. 

“Nothing much,” Luke replied. “I worked on a few songs, spent some time talking to Julie…” 

Reggie hummed again. “Sounds nice and relaxing.” 

Luke almost laughed—of all the ways he’d classify his afternoon, _relaxing_ wouldn’t have made the list. Of course, unless he’d tell Reggie exactly what he’d been thinking about, his afternoon _would_ sound relaxing… and he wasn’t quite ready to share his thoughts just yet—mostly because he could barely make sense of them himself. 

“I guess it was,” he said instead, turning his head slightly to brush his nose against Reggie’s, smirking a little when the other ghost inhaled sharply. 

They hadn’t kissed yet—they’d come close a couple of times during the night—and if the noises drifting down from the loft before they’d presumably poofed to a location that provided more privacy had been any indication, Alex and Willie had gotten a lot closer to things that went a lot further than _kissing_ —but Luke hadn’t been able to get out of his head enough to kiss Reggie just yet, and he was pretty sure Reggie was trying not to push him. 

Now though… Luke glanced down towards Reggie’s lips and back up, his own lips quirking up into a tiny grin when he realized his boyfriend wasn’t breathing. “You gonna faint if I kiss you?” He chuckled, and Reggie let out a strangled sound before he launched himself at Luke, pressing his lips to Luke’s and kissing the breath out of his lungs. 

Luke laughed against Reggie’s lips but kissed him back, because he hadn’t kissed him two whole days and it was the longest since they’d gotten together that they’d gone without kissing—Luke wasn’t a fan. 

The kiss soon lost its frantic edge, though, and tapered off into several smaller, more chaste kisses as they tilted sideways on the couch, tangling together as they exchanged giddy, soft kisses. “Alex and I were talking,” Reggie whispered after a while, “about going to the beach sometime, you know, like we used to.” 

Luke reached up to push a strand of Reggie’s hair from his forehead. “By yourselves?” 

Reggie shrugged, “I think it’d be fun if you and Willie came too. I feel like we haven’t really been doing stuff together as a group other than band stuff.” 

Luke smiled lightly. “That sounds great, baby.” 

Reggie lit up with a bright, beautiful grin, and Luke just _had_ to kiss him again, had to lean in and see what that grin tasted like on his boyfriend’s lips, grinning when Reggie squeaked in surprise. “I love you,” Luke told him when he broke the kiss, and Reggie’s eyes went soft as he whispered, “I love you too, Luke.” 

Luke grinned and snuggled in close to his boyfriend. 

He didn’t have anything figured out yet and Julie had put thoughts in his head that he had _no clue_ what to do with, but he did still have Reggie, and he had Alex and Willie and Julie, and as long as they were all still together, he was pretty sure they could overcome any obstacle. 

**\------------**

**21 DECEMBER 2020 (11:07 a.m.)**

**MAGGIE**

Maggie fidgeted nervously as she sat at the dining room table, watching as Ray made two cups of tea in the kitchen, humming happily under his breath as he moved. “Reggie’s definitely not here,” he joked as he moved over to the table, handing her a large mug that smelt deliciously of mint, “he’d have carried this over himself and I would’ve found the teabags _much_ sooner.” 

Maggie chuckled lightly and shook her head. “He always did like helping out in the kitchen.” 

Ray took a seat too and sipped his tea before he looked at her expectantly. “So,” he began. “What did you want to talk about? I’m assuming you didn’t come over while my daughter’s at school and your ghost brother isn’t around just to have some tea.” He glanced towards said tea and then smiled, “Not that the company’s not welcome.” 

Maggie smiled back at him and relaxed a little in her seat. She’d known that Ray would be supportive of whatever she told him, that he’d be the calm, steady influence she needed him to be for this conversation, and though they hadn’t known each other for very long, she imagined their relationship was somewhat like her relationship with Reggie might’ve been if he hadn’t died. 

“I don’t know how much Julie’s told you about the boys’ death,” she began slowly, spinning her mug between her fingers restlessly. “Or how much of the news coverage you remember from back then.” 

Ray leaned back in his chair and hummed thoughtfully. “Not a lot, to be honest. What I remember is solely because I’d just met Rose back then—we weren’t even dating yet. I remember her telling me about it because she’d met them at the Orpheum, but…” 

“Yeah,” Maggie bit her lip and smiled wryly. “Well… They were poisoned by the man who sold them hot dogs that night. He was caught, confessed almost right away, went to prison, but,” she hesitated, “he always insisted he was innocent—that _ghosts_ had made him do it. I always thought it was ridiculous; just an old man trying to get out of what he’d done, but now…” 

“Ah,” Ray sighed. “Yes, I can see why you might find it harder to dismiss it now.” 

Maggie managed a weak grin, “Yeah. I always…” She cut off and looked away, glancing out the window into the garden as she tried to gather her thoughts, tried to find the words to explain coherently what she’d gone through when she had tried to find out why her brother and his friends were killed. 

“I didn’t actually find out what happened to them until I was twenty-one,” she admitted. Ray made a surprised noise and she shrugged. “My parents made us move a few months after Reggie died, and they refused to acknowledge he’d even existed. I tried to find out more when I left home, but I was too young —they wouldn’t let me near any of the police reports or court transcripts until I was twenty-one.” She paused, sipping at her tea, before continuing, “I went to see him, when I found out his name and where he was locked up. I wanted to know _why_ — I wanted him to look me in the eye and ask him why he took my brother— _brothers_ , they were all my brothers— all three of them, they were, they always were— I wanted to hear him say it.” 

She exhaled shakily when Ray reached out and put his hand on hers. “I take it that didn’t go well?” 

Maggie sobbed a laugh and shook her head. “He was just… he was a sad old man. And he kept repeating that he didn’t want to do it, that they were good kids and that ghosts made him do it, and I—” 

She broke off and squeezed her eyes shut, tears running down her cheeks. Ray squeezed her hand, waiting a second before he said, “When Rose— when we lost Rose, we all lost our heads a little. And I had to hold it together for Julie and Carlos— they’d already lost their mother, they couldn’t lose me as well, no matter how I felt, no matter how _devastated_ and _heartbroken_ I was.” 

When Maggie looked up at him, his eyes were shiny with unshed tears and he gave her a tremulous smile. “I don’t know how I would’ve handled losing Rose if I hadn’t had Julie and Carlos.” 

“I didn’t handle it,” Maggie admitted in a small voice. “At all. For—God, for _years_ . I—I tried, for a while, but not knowing why… it just— it _ate me up_ from the inside. I almost let it destroy me.” She shivered and wrapped her fingers around the mug of tea, trying to shake the cold that had settled over her as she tried to explain. “I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t met Ende and T’Nia, and I’m almost afraid to think about it. They saved my life.” 

Ray shot her a kind smile. “T’Nia is your wife, yes?”

Maggie smiled and nodded. “Yes. Although we didn’t start dating for… for a while. She was… she was my best friend’s sister, and she was helping me through a really shitty time—it wasn’t the best base for a relationship.” She shrugged, “I wasn’t in the right headspace for one either.” 

Ray smiled sympathetically and Maggie exhaled a sigh, shaking her head lightly before running her fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry,” she chuckled, “You don’t need to hear all of that, it’s just—” She bit down on her lower lip and offered, “Julie called me a few days ago to let me know the boys think they might’ve found the ghost who ordered them killed. They want to see Tafani—the hot dog man—to see if he knows anything, remembers anything.” 

“Ah,” Ray cut in. “And they want you to go with—since you’re already on his approved visitor’s list.” 

Maggie nodded with a grimace. 

“I don’t think I can,” she admitted. “The last time—I haven’t been back in over ten years, I haven’t even looked at anything I had on their case. I don’t know if it _is_ a trigger, but I can’t—I can’t risk it.” She fidgeted restlessly, her stomach twisting into knots the same way it had every time she thought about this, the same way it had almost constantly since Julie had called her a few days ago. 

“I have a family now,” she said in a small voice. “I can’t risk spiraling back into depression. _I can’t_ , but I don’t—I don’t want to disappoint Reggie either.” 

“Oh, _pobrecita_ ,” Ray sighed, reaching out to pat her hand again. “Reggie loves you. He would never even dream of asking you to do something that might be harmful to your mental health. _None_ of the boys would _ever_ want you to do something that might hurt you.” 

Maggie sighed and shook her head, wiping at her cheeks. “I know that. But I—I _want_ to help them. I want to help them figure this out, to make sure this ghost can’t hurt them again.” 

Ray nodded thoughtfully and leaned back in his chair. “I think you need to tell the boys that you’re not comfortable with it. We can sort out a different way to get information—if needed, I’ll step in and visit the man. My daughter’s going to be knee-deep in this anyway,” he smiled, “I might as well get involved to make sure she doesn’t get in over her head.” 

Maggie smiled gratefully, and though she still wasn’t looking forward to having to tell her brother she couldn’t help him beyond giving them the name and the prison he was locked up in, she felt better knowing she had Ray and T’Nia to back her up—even if she likely wouldn’t need it. 

\----------

**21 DECEMBER 2020 (2:13 p.m.)**

**ALEX**

Despite the added confusion of his reawakened feelings for Reggie, Alex had to admit hanging out with Luke, Reggie and Willie at the beach near where Reggie’s house used to be hadn’t been nearly as painfully awkward or anxiety-inducing as he had feared it would be. 

They’d met up there, on the pier where they used to play for a little extra spending money, where he and Reggie had spent a few nights sitting to look up at the stars while they tried to ignore the sounds of shouting, cursing and shattering glass from Reggie’s house, where they’d officially formed Sunset Curve—where Alex had found Willie after Julie had freed them from Caleb’s stamp. 

It was a safe space for all of them, and Alex and Reggie had agreed that it was probably the best place to start if they wanted to see if they still had romantic feelings for each other too, without having to exclude their respective boyfriends. 

Alex, privately, didn’t think he had much to figure out. 

He loved Willie—he honestly, truly did and he had absolutely no intention of breaking up with him—but he hadn’t ever fallen out of love with Reggie to begin with. 

He’d broken up with him and he’d done his best to move on, to ignore what he felt for Reggie because he knew that it wouldn’t be long before Luke confessed his feelings for him and Reggie would very obviously reciprocate, and Alex would have to deal with them being soppy in front of him _all the time_. 

It was the main reason he’d started seeing Mike after they broke up. Alex hadn’t been able to stick to his promise to leave Reggie alone for very long after they broke up initially. It’d only taken four days of having to face Reggie and his unbearably sad puppy eyes before Alex had caved and took him home with him, before he gave in and kissed Reggie back, before he tore at Reggie’s clothes with the same urgency Reggie tore at his—he’d realized then he’d never be able to stay away. 

Not as long as he knew Reggie wanted him back. 

So he’d done his best to convince Reggie it was a one time thing—people had break up sex all the time, so that’s what it’d been—and he’d made sure Reggie saw him with Mike at their next gig. Granted, the thing with Mike had been very casual, and he’d only seen him when they had gigs, so he wouldn’t be tempted into dancing too close to Reggie or to go home with Reggie. 

Of course, he hadn’t anticipated _dying_ , nor meeting Willie. 

When he’d met Willie, he had honestly thought that he’d be what Alex had been waiting for—falling for Willie had been so easy and so entirely unexpected that it had wholly consumed him for a while and he had _let it_ , because he hadn’t felt that good about being with someone else since the first time he’d kissed Reggie and it’d been _intoxicating_. 

He hadn’t really thought about his feelings for Reggie until they were very nearly dying _again_. 

Until he felt he might have to watch Reggie—and Luke—die all over again. 

He’d thought about saying something after Julie saved them, had thought about telling Reggie everything and begging him for forgiveness—but he couldn’t get the look on Reggie’s face when Luke had tried to prove their chemistry out of his mind, and he’d not said anything. 

He’d been so sure that moving on was the best thing to do for both of them. 

Reggie had obviously still been in love with Luke, and Alex… Alex had his skater boy—and Alex had really, _really_ liked Willie. He’d been halfway in love with the other ghost since he had run him over, and he’d been so very sure that it’d help him get over Reggie that he’d refused thinking about it at all, that he refused to even _consider_ his feelings for Reggie beyond their friendship. 

He’d been happy when Reggie and Luke got together—he loved seeing Reggie happy and he’d even surprised himself with how genuine that feeling had been. 

And yeah, Alex would be the first to admit he could and should have handled his breakup with Reggie a lot better than he had. 

He’d let his anxiety get the best of him, he’d let it ruin what they had, and in hindsight, Alex could see so very clearly that Reggie had been in love with him too in everything Reggie had done—and could see why Reggie had felt, towards the end of the their relationship, like he’d been the only one fighting to make things work. 

He _hated_ that Reggie felt that way, but he could see _why_ and he was determined to do better now. 

He’d gone into their relationship worried they’d end up breaking each other’s hearts, that they’d ruin their friendship and lose something—the same kind of intimacy he and Luke had lost for a long time after they broke up, that they were only just starting to find again—and yet he’d ended up being the one to break both their hearts, because much as he hated to admit it, he’d actually been in love with Reggie. 

He hadn’t _wanted_ to break up with him, but he’d done it anyway because he’d never been able to look past Reggie’s confession of his feelings for Luke—a confession he’d made once, and hadn’t repeated since then, not once during their entire relationship. 

A confession of feelings that Reggie had tried to get over— like he’d promised Alex he would.

He’d made a mistake, breaking up with Reggie without so much as a word on his real reasons, that much was clear to him now, but he didn’t know how to fix it. 

He didn’t want to break up with Willie and the last thing he wanted was to hurt Reggie _or_ Luke, but if Reggie really was still in love with him, then… Alex wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to walk away again—wasn’t sure that he’d _want_ to walk away again. 

He heaved a sigh and ran his hands through his hair, shaking himself from his thoughts and watched as Willie chased Luke through the waves, both of them screaming at the top of their lungs. He couldn’t help but smile at them, at his _ridiculous_ best friend and his _crazy_ boyfriend, and at Reggie, who was jogging back towards him, with a similar grin, cheeks flushed and his hair flopping over his forehead. 

“They’re ridiculous,” he announced, dropping onto the sand beside Alex, leaning their shoulders together and grinning up at him. “I couldn’t keep up—Willie’s legs are too long. I feel like that’s cheating.” He looked up at Alex with the tiniest, cutest confused frown wrinkling his forehead and said, “ _Is_ that cheating? Having good genes?” 

“Oh, obviously,” Alex chuckled, casually slinging an arm around Reggie’s shoulders, something tight loosening in his chest when Reggie sighed happily and sagged against him, eyes tracking their boyfriends as they ran through the surf, trying their best to tackle each other into the water. 

“Are you two…” Reggie hesitated, and when Alex looked down at him, he was chewing on his lower lip nervously, looking down to avoid Alex’s eye. “...are you two okay?” He finished cautiously, softly. 

Alex sighed. 

Willie had clung to him a lot during that first night after he and Reggie had kissed—not that Alex hadn’t clung back just as tightly, that he hadn’t willingly lost himself in kissing and touching Willie, letting the other ghost poof them into the guest bedroom so they’d have privacy—but that desperate fervor hadn’t lasted long, and when they’d met him on the beach this morning, Willie had engaged Luke and Reggie in conversation and games just as much as he did Alex. 

He’d even refrained from glaring at Reggie all that much. 

To be fair, Reggie had spent most of the morning being patently adorable in all the ways Alex had fallen in love with once, and Willie had thankfully been too distracted by the way Luke was tripping all over himself while staring at Reggie with literal hearts in his eyes that Alex was pretty sure he’d missed the way it’d made _Alex_ stare at Reggie too. 

Alex wasn’t sure he was ready to admit he knew exactly how he felt about Reggie just yet. 

“Yeah,” he finally replied, “Yeah, we’re fine.” He bit his lip and added, “As much as we can be right now anyway. He’s still not thrilled, and I don’t blame him, but…” Alex shrugged. 

“Yeah,” Reggie sighed, lower lip pushed out into a small pout. “Yeah, Luke’s not exactly happy either.” 

Alex glanced up towards Luke and Willie just in time to see his boyfriend fling himself bodily at Luke’s back, crashing into him hard and sending him sprawling face first in the water, Willie cackling as Luke sputtered, spitting seawater out of his mouth with a grimace. Reggie was giggling beside him, leaning most of his weight on Alex now, and Alex grinned too. 

“You seemed fine this morning,” he offered eventually, glancing back down at Reggie. 

They _had_ seemed fine—Alex had found them cuddled together on the couch in the studio this morning, tangled together so tightly that he could barely see where one ended and the other began, and after rehearsal yesterday, he’d seen Luke drag Reggie closer by the strap of his bass to kiss him. 

“We are,” Reggie shrugged. “We _are_ fine, he’s not even mad at me—at us. But I can tell it’s bothering him, that it’s eating at him even though he says he wants me to figure out how I feel.”

Alex swallowed thickly and then, lightly, jostled Reggie. “How _we_ feel,” he corrected gently, because he’d let Reggie think he was alone in this one too many times already. He didn’t have a clue how they were going to fix this and thinking about it too hard made his head hurt and his lungs seize up, but Alex was _determined_ to figure this out. 

They had eternity, after all. 

Reggie smiled faintly. “Right. How _we_ feel.”

He looked down to Alex’s hand, which he’d rested on Reggie’s knee, and then smiled up at Alex, wrapping both arms around Alex’s arm, leaning his head on Alex’s shoulder. Alex smiled too, wider still when Willie looked up at him from where he’d wrestled Luke into a headlock, rubbing his knuckles into Luke’s head mercilessly, lips turned up into the biggest grin he’d ever seen on his boyfriend. 

“I love that dumbass,” Reggie sighed wistfully, and Alex couldn’t help but agree. 

“Yeah,” he agreed, shaking his head. “Me too.”

  
  



	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> A bigger chapter for y'all today ☺️   
> Much thanks kjstark for beta reading this chapter again ❤️ 
> 
> Next chapter is finished, so expect it next Saturday! Hopefully I'll be able to keep a steady writing schedule, since most of the story is planned (up to chapter fourteen anyway). 
> 
> Some progress for the boys in this chapter too 😉 
> 
> Love  
> Annaelle

**SIX**

**21 DECEMBER 2020 (3:05 p.m.)**

**ALEX**

The atmosphere when they returned to the studio was one that was decidedly lighter and less tense than it had been in the previous days, and Alex felt a kind of weight fall from his shoulders. They hadn’t really talked about anything, hadn’t really  _ tried _ either, but he felt better about the way Willie and Luke looked at them already and that was more than he’d dared hope for. 

Willie sprawled back on the couch as soon as they entered the studio, groaning dramatically, and Alex couldn’t help but grin at him. He was ridiculous and dramatic and Alex  _ loved _ him—which probably spoke volumes about his taste in men, considering the only other two boys he’d been in love with. 

He plopped down on the couch beside Willie, smiling when the skater turned towards him immediately and threw an arm around him. “Thanks for coming along,” he told Willie quietly, so Luke and Reggie, who were messing around with their respective songbooks, couldn’t hear him. “I know you’re not—that this isn’t easy. Thank you.” He leaned in and pressed a brief, chaste kiss to the skater’s lips. “I love you.” 

Willie smiled brightly and leaned up to kiss Alex again, fingers resting soft but insistent against the back of Alex’s neck. “It wasn’t a hardship, hot dog,” he chuckled. “I had fun.” 

“Of course you did,” Luke crowed, “You were spending time with  _ us _ .” He tossed himself on the couch next to them, jostling them playfully, and Alex watched as Willie turned towards Luke with a bright grin, reaching out to clap the singer’s thigh jovially. 

“It’s true,” Willie nodded solemnly, and Alex grinned. 

“Gotta admit watching him dunk you in the ocean half a dozen times  _ was _ pretty fun,” he chuckled, and Luke squawked indignantly, cheeks flushing, but Reggie and Willie both cracked up laughing, and Alex’s stomach flopped hopelessly at the sight of their smiles. 

_ Christ _ , he was far gone. 

Reggie settled cross-legged on the coffee table with his and Luke’s songbooks, leaning Luke’s guitar against the table as he did, still grinning. “Tell me this idea you had,” he told Luke, holding out Luke’s songbook towards the singer. “Before you forget.” 

Alex snorted, because he was pretty sure Luke was constitutionally incapable of forgetting  _ anything _ when it came to music, but it was enough to get Luke moving, bouncing back up from the couch and grabbing his book from Reggie, chattering so fast Alex could barely understand a word he said. Reggie was nodding along though, opening his own songbook and lazily thumbing through the pages before cutting through Luke’s monologue with a half-worded suggestion that made Luke  _ gasp _ before nodding ecstatically, flinging himself onto the table beside Reggie to point something out in his own notebook. 

Willie looked between Reggie and Luke with no small amount of amusement, before glancing towards Alex. “They always like this?” He asked, eyebrows cocked. 

Alex rolled his eyes. “They’re usually worse.” 

“I resent that,” Reggie said without looking up, reaching over to take Luke’s pen from him, scratching something out on the page, replacing Luke’s barely legible chicken scratch with his own neat, loopy handwriting. “You’re usually doing this  _ with  _ us.” 

“Lies,” Alex deadpanned, leaning back onto the couch. “Slander.” 

Willie snorted, and Reggie tossed his notebook in Alex’s direction, still not looking up from where he was scribbling down notes in Luke’s songbook. Alex caught it, still grinning, and went to close the book, careful not to crease the pages—he knew Reggie always took good care of his book, tried to make sure his notes were clear and legible, unlike Luke, who sometimes barely took the time to find an empty page before he started scribbling down whatever came to mind—when he caught sight of familiar lyrics.

_ Will we, or won’t we?  _

He looked up, but Reggie was still hyper focused on his conversation with Luke—even though they were only saying every sixth word out loud—and it wasn’t like Alex hadn’t heard this song before. 

It was… it was about him, so—so surely Reggie wouldn’t mind. 

He trailed trembling fingers over the words Reggie had written for him when they’d been alive, the words he’d written in an attempt to express how he felt about Alex—before Alex had let his anxiety get the best of him and dumped him. He swallowed thickly, and Willie leaned in closer, squeezing Alex’s thigh reassuringly. “You okay, hot dog?” 

Alex looked up at his boyfriend, lips parting as he tried to find the words to explain what he was feeling. “Yeah,” he finally managed before looking back down to Reggie’s songbook, frowning a little when he reached the end of the song—half of the words were scratched out and illegible, and there were spots where Reggie had pressed the pen so hard into the paper he’d torn right through it. 

There were new words and notes scribbled out next to the ones he’d scratched out, messy and hastily written and looking almost hilariously out of place in Reggie’s otherwise pristine notebook. 

_ He said I don’t love you, I’m sorry. I just don’t want to be lonely.  _

“Oh,” he breathed, a short, punched out sound, because when he looked carefully, he could see several darkened, circular spots on the page, little spots where the ink had run and—

Reggie had  _ cried _ while writing this. 

“‘ _ lex _ .” Alex’s head shot up, eyes wide as he stared at Reggie, who looked back with an unreadable expression—and that wasn’t  _ fair _ , because Reggie hadn’t called him ‘lex in over a year and he’d rarely called him that where anyone else could hear them in the first place and it still made Alex’s insides trip all over themselves. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, glancing back down towards the book, “You threw it at me, it just—I couldn’t—” He looked between Willie and Reggie and Luke, who were all staring at him, and then blurted, “Would you play it for me?” 

“I—” Reggie started, “What?” 

“You want him to play you a love song?” Willie asked quietly, incredulously, and Alex swallowed thickly before turning to face his boyfriend. 

“Yes,” Alex replied without thinking, without flinching. He and Willie had talked about his relationship with Reggie, and he’d tried to explain why he needed this, and he knew Willie understood, even if he was a little insecure about it sometimes. “If you’re—” he turned to Reggie again, swallowing thickly, “if you want to, that is. I’ve heard—I’ve heard some of it, but…” 

He glanced down to the songbook and trailed his fingers over the words Reggie had scratched out. “Do you remember the original ending?” 

“Couldn’t forget,” Reggie whispered quietly, chewing on his lower lip nervously as he fiddled with his sleeves. “I tried, but—” He cut off and shook his head, and Alex was suddenly uncomfortably aware that they weren’t alone, that this was the first time they’d talked about their relationship—however indirectly—in front of other people. 

“Play it,” Luke said hoarsely, quietly, and when Alex dared look at him, his eyes were fastened on Reggie, his hand resting on Reggie’s thigh. “If you want to, if you’re ready—play it.” 

Alex turned back to Reggie and met his eye, swallowing thickly at the naked emotion in Reggie’s gaze. 

“Okay,” Reggie nodded shakily, “okay.” Luke slid off the coffee table to give Reggie some room, settling on the bean bag, hugging his own songbook to his chest, and Reggie picked up Luke’s six string with shaking hands, shifting to sit more comfortably, resting the guitar on his leg. 

Alex held out the songbook uncertainly. “Do you—do you need—” 

“No,” Reggie said with a small smile. “I don’t think I could forget that song even if I tried.” 

Alex’s heart did a funny little jump in his chest, and he exhaled shakily, leaning back a little as Reggie began to play. He’d heard Reggie sing before, had even heard him sing this very song before, but there was still something indescribably intimate about Reggie playing it  _ for him _ . 

“Don’t mean to press my luck,” Reggie sang, voice quiet and somewhat uncertain, peeking up at Alex from beneath his eyelashes shyly. “But for me this ain’t enough. I don’t want some overrated lukewarm love. Are we this, or are we that?” His voice grew stronger with each word, and it still took Alex’s breath away, especially now that he was not eavesdropping, now that Reggie  _ wanted _ him to hear this. 

And Alex had known, abstractly, that Reggie was a  _ really good singer _ in his own right, that he could hit high notes that Luke didn’t even dare dream of, but it was mildly absurd how surprised he was to realize it in the middle of a song where  _ only  _ Reggie was singing. 

“It’s like we’ve got two left feet,” Reggie continued, and there was something quite akin to wistfulness in his voice now, tearing at Alex’s heart, because  _ he’d done that _ . He’d kept Reggie at an arm’s length even when they’d been dating for real because he’d been  _ so scared _ of being in love with another one of his best friends, had been  _ terrified _ of losing Reggie the same way he’d lost Luke, of being hurt the same way he’d been hurt when Luke had broken up with him. 

With no small amount of effort, Alex managed to pull himself from his thoughts and refocused his attention on Reggie, who was smiling lightly, even though his eyes were bright and shiny with unshed tears. “I’m the Joey to your Phoebe,” Reggie sang, and Alex managed a watery chuckle, grinning at the oblique reference to Alex’s mild obsession with F.R.I.E.N.D.S. “Relationship that should’ve been, but neither one could see so they just stayed friends.” 

Alex choked a little, at that, and startled when Willie’s hand suddenly landed on his, squeezing his fingers reassuringly. He glanced towards his boyfriend, but Willie wasn’t even looking at him, his eyes instead locked on Reggie, his expression completely unreadable. Alex chanced a glance towards Luke—the guitarist was looking at Reggie with  _ literal _ hearts in his eyes, complete adoration plain as day on his face, and Alex was a little surprised and pleased that he didn’t feel jealous at the sight of it. 

He knew Luke was in love with Reggie—for the first time, it didn’t make his stomach tighten with unease, didn’t make his head spin with jealousy. 

“Maybe our love is mad. You’re filling every thought I have,” Reggie’s voice cracked, a tear rolling down his cheek, and Alex was a little startled to discover he was crying too. Every part of him  _ ached _ , itching to reach out to Reggie, to hold him and kiss him and reassure him that Alex loved him too, that it’d never been about whether or not Alex loved him—that Alex  _ still _ loved him, and that he was pretty sure he’d never be able to  _ stop _ . 

He should’ve told Reggie all those things back when they were alive, back when they’d been together, should’ve known that he could  _ trust  _ Reggie with every part of himself—should never have broken up with him in the first place. 

“I love this “will they, won’t they” romance,” Reggie’s voice softened to something gentle and intimate, his eyes locked on Alex’s and the eye contact was almost too much, almost too intense—it was  _ so much _ and Alex could barely  _ stand it _ , but he couldn’t bring himself to look away either—

“You know I’ll never leave. So will we,” Reggie whispered, so quietly he could barely be heard over the sound of the guitar. “Or won’t we?” 

The silence that fell when the last note faded was almost deafening, and Alex couldn’t take his eyes off Reggie, couldn’t quite make sense of his own thoughts long enough to think of something to do or say, and Reggie was staring back at him just as intently, just as speechless—

“Damn, hot dog,” Willie blurted, abruptly jerking Alex from staring at Reggie, “If you don’t kiss him, I might—that’s one hell of a love song.” 

Alex swung around, jaw hanging open to  _ stare _ at his boyfriend—who, admittedly, looked a little poleaxed by his own words too—before glancing towards Luke, who was looking between them with his mouth hanging open, eyes wide and dark and—and Alex did  _ not _ have the brain capacity to figure out  _ what  _ Luke was thinking, not when he could  _ feel _ Reggie’s eyes boring into the side of his head, not when  _ all  _ he could think about was the way Reggie’s lips had looked when forming the words to the song, when all he could remember was that when Reggie had kissed him a few days ago, his lips had tasted  _ exactly _ like they had when they’d been alive—

He turned back to Reggie, who’d set down the guitar and was now standing up, expression a little lost, a little afraid, and Alex stared at him for a beat before he surged to his feet too, and he couldn’t tell who moved first, couldn’t tell if it was him, curling his hand around Reggie’s necklace to draw him in, or Reggie, leaning up onto his toes as he curled both hands around the back of Alex’s neck, drawing him in before their lips met in the middle. 

A small, hitching gasp came from Reggie’s throat when their lips pressed together, his fingers pressing hard against the back of Alex’s neck. His own fingers tightened their tenuous grasp on Reggie’s necklace, dragging the other ghost just a tiny bit closer, relishing in the feel of Reggie’s lips, the familiar taste of him, before they parted.

Alex felt strangely out of breath, like he’d run a marathon, could almost hear his non-existent blood rushing through his veins and couldn’t take his eyes off Reggie—the kiss had barely lasted five seconds, but it felt like Alex’s entire world had shifted, like everything was different—

Like  _ he  _ was different. 

Reggie seemed pretty stunned by recent events too, staring back at Alex with wide, beautiful green eyes and slightly parted lips and—and Alex had done that. 

He’d kissed Reggie, and very chastely too, and had rendered him speechless. 

He couldn’t help but admit there was a not-insignificant part of him that relished in that thought. 

At least until there was a small, choked-off sound from their right, abruptly reminding him that he’d just kissed his ex-boyfriend in front of both of their current boyfriends. Reggie jolted too, dropping his hands from Alex’s neck and rocking back onto his heels, eyeing Luke apprehensively. “I—” Reggie began, but Luke immediately shook his head, tossing his songbook aside as he launched himself to his feet, reaching for Reggie’s hand. 

“No, it’s—” Luke glanced towards Alex and managed a sincere smile. “Don’t apologize. It’s okay. Willie was right,” he chuckled, shaking his head a little, “If Alex hadn’t, I would’ve.” 

“Yeah,” Willie threw in, voice slightly shaky as he got to his feet too, a brittle smile on his lips. “I think I just might’ve.” He turned to Reggie and added, “I had no idea you could sing like that, man—why aren’t you on lead vocals  _ all the time _ ?” 

Reggie’s cheeks flushed abruptly and he looked down, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh, nah, I mean—I’m okay, but Julie’s—and… and Luke—” 

Luke laughed, and something tense loosened in Alex’s chest as Luke threw his arm around Reggie, pulling him close as they sat back down on the coffee table. “Reggie doesn’t want to be lead singer,” Luke told Willie as he and Alex sat down again too. “Believe me, I’ve offered—he can hit notes I can’t even  _ try _ . The only reason we were able to jump in so easily with Julie when she performed Bright that first time was because those high notes were already in there.” 

“Okay,” Reggie shook his head, “I wasn’t—Julie’s got the voice of an angel, guys, you can’t compare—”

“Shh,” Alex said sternly, “Own your awesomeness, Reginald.” 

Reggie looked  _ scandalized _ that Alex dared throw Reggie’s own words back at him and pouted, which was  _ so unfair _ , he had  _ no business _ being this adorable. “Fans always did go crazy for you,” Alex pointed out, and Reggie’s cheeks, if possible, went even redder. 

“Our fans were crazy for  _ Luke _ ,” Reggie protested weakly, and Willie laughed, knocking his shoulder against Alex’s as he leaned forward. 

“I dunno, bro,” Willie grinned. “No offence to Luke, but I figured plenty of fans were brought in by your smokin’ drummer and your nineties heartthrob bassist.” Alex’s own cheeks flushed and he bit back a grin, snorting a laugh at Luke’s semi-indignant squawk. He watched as Reggie smiled, bright and happy, yanking Luke close for a brief, hard kiss, rubbing his hand through Luke’s hair as he pulled away.

He glanced towards Willie, who was smiling too, and leaned into his boyfriend. 

They’d be fine. He was in love with Reggie  _ and  _ he was in love with Willie and if he’d been only  _ fairly _ sure that Reggie felt the same way before, he was  _ very _ sure he did now. 

Reggie would  _ never _ have kissed him back if he didn’t feel the same way. 

Alex wasn’t sure what that meant, wasn’t sure what this meant for his relationship with Willie, but he wasn’t so very afraid to find out anymore. 

\---------

**22 DECEMBER 2020 (9:12 a.m.)**

**ALEX**

“His name’s Jacob Tafani,” Maggie said, her voice trembling just a little, and Alex noticed that she was twisting her wedding ring around her finger nervously, just like Luke did with his thumb ring when he was, like Alex did himself when he didn’t have his sticks to mess with, and wondered if there were more habits she’d picked up from them without any of them noticing. “He was convicted of three counts of first degree murder—twenty-five years each, to be served consecutively, no parole. He was transferred to Avenal State Prison last year.” 

She looked down and swallowed thickly. “I haven’t been able to see him since the first time I went, I—.” 

“But you’re still on his approved visitor’s list?” Luke interrupted eagerly, leaning halfway across the table before Reggie fisted a hand in the back of his shirt and pulled him back onto his seat. 

“I don’t know,” Maggie said in a low voice, looking up again with an uncertain expression on her face. “That’s not what I’m trying to say though, it’s—” she cut herself off and shook her head. “I can’t go see him for you guys, I—” 

“What?!” Luke blurted, and Reggie winced. 

Alex caught sight of Maggie’s stricken expression and made the executive decision to clap his hand over Luke’s mouth before he could blurt out anything else. He turned to Maggie, brow furrowed in concern and asked, “Why not, Mags?” 

Maggie bit her lip and sighed, looking down again before she admitted, quietly, “I… I didn’t do so very well after the last time I saw him, and I can’t—” Alex couldn’t see her expression very well, but her hands were shaking, and his stomach twisted uncomfortably, but before he could say anything, Reggie leaned forward, taking his sister’s hands in his. 

“Mags, we don’t want you to do  _ anything _ you’re not comfortable with,” he said earnestly, his eyes wide and sincere. “If it’s too much, we’ll find another way to talk to him.” 

“That,” Ray interjected, leaning his elbows onto the table, “is where I come in.” 

Julie looked at her dad with a startled expression, and Reggie blinked, obviously as startled as Alex was by Ray’s interruption. His attention was then abruptly drawn back to Luke, who licked a broad stripe across Alex’s palm—still clasped over his mouth—so Alex would release him. Which he did, immediately, groaning in disgust. “Ew, Luke,” he complained, wiping his hand on Luke’s face none too gently, “Don’t be fucking gross.” 

“Language,” Ray chuckled, and Alex’s cheeks flushed. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, sinking down in his chair a little, making a face at Luke when his friend poked his tongue out at him cheekily. 

“Anyway,” Julie exclaimed, and Alex reluctantly turned away from Luke to look at Ray and Maggie. 

Maggie looked mildly amused, her previous reticence having melted away, and Ray shook his head with a mild smile, reaching out to put his hand on Julie’s. “I figured you would likely be all wrapped in this,  _ mija _ . Maggie can’t go back to the prison for a multitude of reasons, but I can. I’ve already filled out the visitor’s information form—all I have to do is send it to the prison for approval.” 

“You would do that for us?” Reggie asked quietly, and when Alex looked at him, his eyes were wide and shiny, locked on Ray as if he couldn’t believe he was real. Alex couldn’t quite believe Ray was real either, that the man, who had only known them for a few months, would be willing to go talk to a potentially dangerous criminal for them. 

“Of course,” Ray said with a soft, kind smile, patting Reggie on the hand. “Of course,  _ mijo _ . You three are part of the family now.” He caught Maggie’s eye and added, “All four of you, I mean.” 

Reggie looked like he was about to burst into tears, and Maggie didn’t seem to be faring much better, and Alex remembered how Reggie and little Maggie hadn’t been used to affection when they’d first met, how Reggie had flinched every time Luke hugged him for the first few months, the way he still hadn’t quite been comfortable with being touched when he and Reggie had first started seeing each other, the way Maggie had cried, once, when she’d been seven and Alex and Luke had watched her for Reggie because she’d dropped her ice cream. 

She’d been terrified they’d yell at her. 

They hadn’t, of course, had just bought her a new ice cream and took her to the movies—they may have been  _ a little  _ overindulgent with her—but the incident had cemented itself in Alex’s brain. 

If anyone deserved a parent as amazing as Ray, it was definitely Reggie and Maggie.

“So…” Luke said slowly, softly. “What happens now?” 

“Now,” Ray replied, “I send in the paperwork for approval. Once it’s approved, we can set up a meeting, discuss what questions you want me to ask him.” He tapped his fingers on the table a few times before he added, “And I’d like to set some boundaries.” He eyed the boys seriously, before turning his gaze on Julie and Alex squirmed a little. Ray didn’t pull out the ‘serious-dad’ expression very often and it was  _ very _ weird seeing it on him. 

“Boundaries?” Julie squeaked.

“Yes,” Ray nodded seriously. “This ghost—this  _ Caleb _ … You said he nearly destroyed you boys once already. Now he might be responsible for your deaths—he’s very clearly dangerous, and I don’t want Julie or Carlos getting caught in the crossfire.” He gave the boys an apologetic look. “I’m sorry,  _ niños _ . You’re already dead—I’d like to keep my Julie from joining you.”

“ _ Dad,”  _ Julie began, but Ray shook his head. 

“No,  _ mija _ , this is non-negotiable,” he said sternly. “Whatever we find out from Tafani, I do  _ not _ want you going anywhere near that Ghost Club.” 

“He’s right,” Maggie cut in, and Alex nodded. From the corner of his eye, he could see Luke make a face, but Reggie was also nodding vigorously, and Alex knew that Luke was only bothered because a parent was telling Julie—and by extension him—what to do, and it ruffled his feathers because Luke’s first instinct when he was being told what to do was to do the exact opposite. 

“Jules, it’s okay,” Reggie said seriously, leaning forward so he could look directly at her. “We don’t want you to get hurt like  _ ever _ , and your dad’s right, Caleb’s evil and dangerous and you should stay as far away from him as you can.” 

Julie frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, but ultimately didn’t argue. 

“Okay then,” Ray nodded decisively. “That’s decided. I’ll send in the paperwork.” Everyone nodded and something tense loosened a little in Alex’s chest. They didn't have answers yet, but at least now they had a  _ plan _ , they had a way to find out what happened to them and  _ why _ . 

“There’s something else we need to talk about, guys,” Maggie said, and Alex was surprised by how serious her expression was. 

Luke, beside him, shifted uncomfortably and fidgeted until Alex and Reggie each set a hand on his thigh. He immediately reached for Reggie’s hand, tangling their fingers together and shot a relieved, grateful smile at Alex, who smiled back and pretended the point of contact wasn’t just as soothing for him as it clearly was for Luke. 

He watched as Maggie glanced towards Ray again—and he did wonder when  _ that _ happened, he hadn’t even been aware Maggie and Ray had talked to each other without Julie and them there—before she continued, “Destiny wants me to offer you guys a record deal,  _ but _ —” she held up her hand as they all burst into noise and Alex felt anxiety well up from the pit of his stomach, even as Luke and Reggie crowed excitedly and Julie clapped her hands over her mouth. 

“Guys, shut up,” he told his friends, elbowing Luke in the side and reaching across his lap to press Reggie back in his seat. “She wasn’t done yet.” He turned to Maggie and bit his lip, unable to shake the feeling that the news wasn’t quite as good as he’d like to believe. “Right?” 

Maggie sighed. “Right. I can’t offer you the deal without making sure we’ve thought about this—”

“What’s there to think about?” Luke exclaimed, eyes wide. “This is what we’ve always wanted, why—what else do we have to think about?” 

“What if your parents see?” Maggie said bluntly, and Alex’s heart clenched. Luke paled and fell back in his seat, eyes wide. Maggie turned to Reggie and said, “I haven’t seen our parents in years—I have no idea where they are, or how they’re doing, but...” she shook her head and Alex felt a little nauseous even as she continued, “Alex’s mom would  _ definitely _ recognize him, and that’s not even  _ considering _ the clusterfuck that would happen if Bobby recognized you.” 

“What…” Julie whispered hoarsely, eyes wide and startled. “What do you expect us to do?” 

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t have the answers, but before you sign that record deal, I want us to be  _ ready.  _ I want us to  _ have _ those answers—I caught you guys off guard when I recognized Reggie,” she shot a glance towards Reggie and Julie in quick succession and Alex winced at the reminder of that disastrous first meeting. 

“That can’t happen again,” Maggie said decisively. “We can’t risk it. It’d be one thing if  _ one _ of you looked like a guy from a band that died in the nineties, but all three of you? Someone’s going to notice and we need to have a story ready when they do.” 

“You’re right,” Julie said faintly. “We—we should’ve thought of that.” 

“We’ll think of something,” Luke cut in, his eternal optimism kicking in again, slapping his hands down on Alex and Reggie’s thighs, grinning brightly at them and then at Julie, who grinned back hesitantly. “We’ll figure something out, guys, we always do.” 

Alex could only hope he was right.

\----------

**22 DECEMBER 2020 (2:56 p.m.)**

**LUKE**

Luke bounced up and down in excitement, watching Willie zoom around the skatepark, showing off a bunch of tricks that he was going to try to teach Luke—as if Luke wasn’t a complete disaster every time he set foot on the skateboard, as if he didn’t end up flat on his back more often than he didn’t when he attempted things more complicated than  _ standing _ on the board. 

His complete lack of balance didn’t seem to bother Willie in the slightest though, and Luke suspected that Willie took some kind of pleasure in seeing Luke fall on his ass more often than not. 

Still, he grinned at Willie when the skater executed a perfect big flip and came to a stop directly in front of him. “Hey man,” Willie greeted him enthusiastically, kicking his board up into his hand. “Ready for another lesson?” 

“Sure,” Luke nodded. “Although I’m onto you, man.” He pointed one finger accusingly at Willie as he took the skateboard from the other ghost, “You just like watching me fall on my ass.” 

Willie laughed, bright and happy, eyes crinkling up, holding up his hands in supplication. “You got me,” he chuckled, “Nothing brings me as much joy as watching you fall all over yourself does.” He winked and added, “Highlight of my day, really.”

“Hah,” Luke snorted. “I’ll be sure to mention that to your boyfriend.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Willie rolled his eyes and waved a hand towards Luke casually. “Just show me how far you’ve gotten with that jump I showed you last time.” 

Luke leaned one foot on the skateboard, focusing on the jump he was about to do as he replied, "Sure, sure, deflect. I know my charm is too much to resist, it’s okay." 

Before he could reply, he took a deep breath and pushed off letting himself fly off the half pipe, swirling around in the air when he reached the end of it before landing on the skateboard again, sliding back around to where Willie’s standing, cheering and clapping enthusiastically. He exhaled in relief, his heart pounding in his chest and exhilaration burning in his veins, because that was the first time he’d been able to do that without falling, and he wanted to scream it from the rooftops. 

“That was awesome!” Willie cheered, clapping him on the shoulder and dragging him closer. “You’re  _ definitely _ ready for new tricks, man!” 

Luke grinned too, and something fluttered low in his chest, pleased and excited as Willie bounced closer and began explaining how to do a trick called a ‘Caspar Slide’. Luke figured he’d probably fall a hundred times before he  _ ever _ managed to do any of what Willie was describing, but skating was  _ fun _ in a way that not many things beside music were, and spending time with Willie was always  _ awesome _ . 

The other ghost was always up for hanging out and going skating or sneaking into movie theaters and clubs, and Luke had grown to love the way Willie grinned, broadly and uninhibited, smooth brown skin wrinkling into adorable laugh lines by his lips and the corners of his eyes and—

“Try it,” Willie encouraged him, and Luke swallowed thickly, pulling himself away from staring at Willie—he hadn’t even realized he  _ was _ staring—and smiled awkwardly. “Right,” he choked. “Okay.” 

He pushed off again and deliberately and very determinately focused on the feeling of the wind in his hair, speeding up with each trick that goes right, rolling down the half pipe and then flying for a split-second, grinning brilliantly every time he felt like he was soaring. Luke loved music, loved how free writing and performing made him feel, but there was something overwhelmingly new and different about the way skateboarding made him feel free. 

“Dude, watch out!” Someone yelled right next to him and Luke startled, yelping as he lost his balance, the board flying out from under him. He curled his arms around his head instinctively, wishing that he’d taken Willie’s offer to wear his helmet, and landed on the ground with a  _ smack _ , knocking the breath from his lungs, leaving him dazed and dizzy, blinking up at the sky blearily. 

There was a beat of silence before Willie appeared above him, eyeing him with a bit of concern. “You okay, man? You hit the ground pretty hard.” 

“Can ghosts get concussions?” Luke wheezed, reaching up to clutch at his head. 

Willie barked a short laugh and shook his head, holding out his hand to pull Luke to his feet. Luke blinked up at him for another long moment before he managed to move, clapping their palms together and letting Willie haul him back to his feet. 

He stumbled, his balance not quite recovered, saving himself from falling flat on his face by stumbling back into Willie—who, to his credit, caught him and steadied him with his hands on his upper arms. “You okay in there?” Willie asked, eyebrows raised, and Luke’s breath caught in his lungs. Willie was so—he was  _ so close _ , and how had Luke never noticed before that there were just the barest hint of freckles on his nose and cheeks? 

How’d he never noticed how  _ beautiful _ Willie’s eyes were and how tantalizing the curve of his lips was? 

His heart was suddenly beating faster and his palms were sweaty and Willie’s fingers were  _ tight _ on his upper arms, and when Luke managed to look up at his eyes again, he realized he wasn’t the only one staring places he shouldn’t. “Willie,” he croaked, and the other ghost jolted, startled, but he didn’t immediately jerk back, like Luke had expected he would. 

“I’m okay,” Luke murmured, tongue darting out from between his lips to wet his lower lip. 

Willie’s eyes tracked the movement and Luke’s mouth abruptly went dry. 

What the  _ hell _ was even going on anymore? 

“Right,” Willie said faintly. “Okay.” 

“Thanks, though,” Luke managed, cheeks burning just a little. “I should—they’re probably—Reg is—Reg is probably waiting for me.” 

Willie nodded shakily and stepped back, dropping his hands from Luke’s arms, and Luke wished he didn’t miss the warmth of his touch, wished that he didn’t have to actively  _ stop _ himself from swaying forward towards him again—things were complicated enough as it was, he didn’t need to add a crush on Alex’s boyfriend into the mix. 

Willie was just… he was fun and he was attractive and Luke had noticed, that was all.

He was only human.

He managed a smile, aiming it in Willie’s direction before he turned around and walked out of the skatepark. He could poof home in under a second, but he was pretty sure he’d need the walk to clear his head—and to figure out how to tell Alex and Reggie about the moment. 

He and Willie had been demanding total honesty from their respective boyfriends, the least Luke could do was return the favor. 

Not, of course, that anything was going on between him and Willie. 

That’d be absurd. 

Wouldn’t it? 

\--------

**23 DECEMBER 2020 (4:32 p.m.)**

**ALEX**

Julie was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, talking animatedly with Reggie, who had one of Julie’s science textbooks opened on his lap, and Carlos, although she leaned her head back into Flynn’s touch as the other girl combed her fingers through Julie’s curls to braid it into a complicated updo that would probably look  _ gorgeous _ when it was done. 

Luke was there too, curled up on the armchair with his songbook and his guitar, although his eyes frequently darted from the page towards Reggie, who was waving his arms around excitedly as he talked. Alex couldn’t help but smile at him—at them, at this little family he had somehow accumulated—and leaned against the doorway. It was a beautiful thing to see, such a deep sense of comfort and friendship and he wanted to walk in and join them—it wasn’t as if they wouldn’t all welcome him with open arms—but he couldn’t quite bring himself to move. 

A little abruptly, he realized that the reason he was feeling so melancholic about the whole thing was that  _ this _ was what he’d wanted when he was alive. 

He’d known that he’d probably never get it, that his parents would never accept him for who he was—and once he’d broken up with Reggie, he’d been sure he’d never be able to recover that intimate ease in his relationship with his two best friends and he’d never get to have this at all. 

In a way, he supposed, he  _ hadn’t _ . 

He’d died before he could have it. 

The homely atmosphere in the room abruptly turned much too stifling and Alex turned, barely keeping himself from fleeing as he moved towards the backdoor. He had always felt more comfortable beneath an open sky, where he could see the stars, and feel the rain and the wind on his skin. 

There was something about the open sky that made his problems feel much, much less large. 

It was… oddly comforting, in a way. 

It was something he and Reggie had bonded over  _ a lot _ when they’d been alive, spending entire nights out on the beach, staring up at the night sky and talking about everything and nothing. 

It almost itched, beneath his skin, the need to go, to run, to hide from the confusing maelstrom of feelings that seeing his friends acting like the family they were unleashed. He wasn’t sure why seeing them triggered this in him, wasn’t sure why  _ now _ , but he knew it was probably just the last straw—it was trying to deal with his feelings for Reggie and the uncertainty of what that meant for his relationship with Willie and his friendship with Luke, that was just now beginning to recover, trying to figure out why they’d been killed, trying to figure out their unfinished business… 

He was actually a little surprised he hadn’t freaked out before now.

“Hey. You doing okay, man?”

Alex looked up, somewhat surprised to find Luke leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. He looked at Alex with concern, and Alex felt unexpectedly relieved. Someone had noticed that his anxiety was acting up, had cared that he was not there, was willing to check on him.

“Yeah,” he nodded, carefully keeping his voice level. “I’m fine.”

Luke smiled sadly. “No, you’re not.”

Alex blinked, unsure of how to respond to being called out on his lie so blatantly by his best friend, but before he could think of something to say, Luke had pushed off the doorjamb and ambled towards him, tripping a little over his own feet before he reached him.

“We need to talk. But first… I think you look like you need a hug,” Luke said frankly, patting his arm. “Do you want one?”

Alex blinked. 

“Uh,” he hesitated. “I guess.” Luke grinned at him and threw his arms around Alex’s shoulders, tugging him close and holding him tight. Alex took a deep, shuddering breath, leaning forward so his head rested on Luke’s shoulder, unexpected tears stinging in his eyes as he clutched back at his friend. 

“I got you,” Luke whispered, rubbing a hand up and down his back when Alex, against all his wishes, let out a choked-off sob. “I got you. You’re not alone, Alex. I got you. Reggie’s got you. Julie and Willie and Carlos and Ray and Maggie. We’ve all got you. Everything is going to be fine.” 

Alex clutched at the back of Luke’s shirt and prayed to God that that was true.

He couldn’t tell how long they stood, hugging tightly, before Luke pulled back slightly, offering him a small smile as he reached up to wipe Alex’s tears from his cheeks. “Come on, man,” he said softly, his thumb both soft and rough against Alex’s skin at the same time. “No need for tears—I promise the talk isn’t going to be that bad. It’s not like I’m mad at you.” 

Alex snorted a laugh despite himself and pulled himself from Luke’s arms. “Why wouldn’t you be mad at me, though?” He replied, trying to keep his tone casual. “I  _ am _ in love with your boyfriend.” 

He wasn’t sure what made him say it, what made him  _ admit _ it out loud, but he had expected more of a reaction from Luke. As it was, Luke just blinked and then shrugged at him. “Yeah, well, he’s in love with you too. And I might’ve had a moment with  _ yours _ earlier too, so...” 

Alex choked on his own tongue. “What?!” 

Luke’s eyebrows raised  _ high  _ on his forehead, and something deep in Alex’s stomach clenched. “Come on, Al,” Luke shook his head. “I’ve known you guys since we were kids. And you look at Reg the same way you look at Willie… The same way you used to look at me.” Alex swallowed thickly and Luke’s expression went…  _ wistful _ and sad for a second before he shook himself and continued, “And the more I think about it, the more I realize that the way you look at him hasn’t changed one bit in  _ years _ . Not even when you were seeing whatever his name was.” 

“...Mike,” Alex breathed faintly. 

His head was spinning a little. Had—had Luke really known how he felt all along? Did  _ Reggie _ know? 

“Not the point, dude,” Luke rolled his eyes, shoving at his shoulder lightly, but Alex could tell he wasn’t really annoyed because a smile was tugging up the corners of his lips. 

“Right,” Alex nodded, distracted and more than a little caught off guard. “I just—I didn’t expect—” He broke off and blinked at Luke. “Hang on, what was that about you and Willie?” Luke’s cheeks flushed and Alex  _ stared _ at his friend because this was the closest to flustered he’d seen Luke since the first time Reggie had kissed Luke in front of them all. 

“Nothing,” Luke squeaked. “We just—he helped me up after I fell and we were super close for a second and there was… a  _ moment _ , okay? Just that, a moment. He’s an attractive dude, and I noticed. Nothing happened though, Alex, I promise.” 

“I—” Alex tried, sinking down onto the nearest garden bench. “You had a moment with my boyfriend?” 

Luke managed a small smile and sat down beside him, knocking their shoulders together. “Yeah, well… You’re in love with mine. You’ve even kissed him. In front of me. I think we’re even.” Alex turned his head sharply to face Luke, who immediately held up his hands in surrender, “Not that that was what the moment was about, okay? I just— _ noticed _ your boyfriend's hot, that’s all.” 

“Right,” Alex croaked. He didn’t… he didn’t know how to feel about Luke’s revelation, about the idea that Luke thought Willie was hot too—and it wasn’t like he was wrong, Willie  _ was  _ hot—didn’t know whether the thought of it bothered him or not… didn’t know what it would mean if it  _ didn’t _ . 

“Look,” Luke sighed, patting his hand on Alex’s thigh comfortingly, “That’s part of why I wanted to talk to you—we’ve been asking you and Reg to be completely honest with us, so I wanted to do that for you too, you know?” When Alex nodded, Luke smiled and continued, “But what we  _ really  _ need to talk about here is you and Reggie.” 

Alex sighed, running his hands through his hair. “Look, I don’t even know if he still—” 

“I think he does,” Luke interrupted, shrugging a little. “Reg still looks at you the way he used to back when we were alive too. The more I learn about you two, the more I think about it, the more I can see it. Neither of you are subtle, and I’m not an idiot.” 

“Well...” Alex drawled, cracking a mild smile. 

“Rude,” Luke pouted, slapping at Alex’s chest playfully. “Fine. I’m not  _ that much  _ of an idiot... I figured you knew how you felt. Have you told Reg yet? Or Willie?” 

“No,” Alex admitted heavily, biting down on his lower lip. “I... I guess I figured you and I needed to talk about this first too.” He stared down at his hands, twisting the dark, thin ring Reggie had once given him for Christmas around his finger. “This whole thing… this is what I was trying to avoid when I broke up with him—I didn’t want to force him to choose between us.” 

He shook his head. “I didn’t want him to have to.” 

Luke scoffed beside him. “Right, so you made that choice for him. How’s that been working out for you?” 

Alex drew back and, feeling a little defensive, snapped, “Oh fuck off, Luke.” 

“No, I’m serious,” Luke insisted, his fingers tight on Alex’s wrist. “Al, neither of you is happy about this, and now you have Willie and me to consider too.” He was looking up at Alex with those large, soulful green eyes, a beseeching expression on his face. “You tried making this decision for Reggie once already and it’s not working. Don’t fall back in that same trap.” 

“Fine,” Alex bit out. “Fine, but then what? I’ll still be forcing him to choose—I’ll be forcing  _ myself _ to choose. No matter what, someone’s gonna end up hurt.” 

“... who said you had to choose?” Luke whispered. 

Alex’s head snapped up again and he stared at Luke. “Huh?” 

“It’s something Julie said…” Luke shrugged, looking down to fidget with his own rings before he continued, “Look,  _ obviously _ this is something we’ll have to talk about with Reg and Willie, something we have to have  _ serious  _ discussions about, but…” He exhaled a shaky breath and offered, “Maybe you don’t have to choose.” 

Alex heaved a sigh and swept his hair off his forehead. “What are you talking about, Luke?” 

“Well…” Luke drawled slowly, biting his lower lip nervously. “What if I said that,  _ potentially _ , I wouldn’t be  _ entirely  _ opposed to you dating Reggie too?” 

“Wh—” Alex choked, swiveling around to stare at Luke with wide eyes. “Are you—what do you even—Luke, you can’t be serious.” 

“Why not?” Luke exclaimed, throwing both hands up. “I love Reggie and I love you, and I want you both to be happy, and it’s not like I think Reg will suddenly love me less just because he loves you too. Besides,” his voice lowered an octave and he smirked at Alex, leering up at him from beneath his eyelashes and  _ holy crap, Luke _ — “It’s not like it’s a hardship, watching you two make out.” 

Alex’s spluttered, looking around desperately, opening and closing his mouth even though no sound came out, blinking at Luke in confusion. “Wh—” He cleared his throat, trying for aloof nonchalance, but his voice came out high pitched and mildly hysterical. “You’ve—you’ve never—you’ve never seen us make out!” 

“No,” Luke shrugged casually, shiteating grin on his face. “But it’s not like it’s hard to imagine. Besides, you’re hot, he’s hot. Obviously I’m attracted to Reggie, and it’s not like I stopped noticing how hot you were when we broke up—” 

“I’m—you—what?!” 

Alex’s voice had gone up so high, he was pretty sure only dogs would be able to hear him, but that didn’t matter because  _ surely _ Luke wasn’t suggesting that they—that—

“You want to  _ share _ Reggie?” He blurted, still not sure that he’d understood his best friend right. 

“Sort of?” Luke said uncertainly, forehead creasing into a frown. For the first time since he’d brought it up, he seemed unsure of himself. “I don’t—I don’t really know how it all works, but… Julie mentioned that I had to think about what I’d do if you two  _ were _ still in love, so I did, and…” He shrugged. “I don’t hate it. It’s new, and it’s weird, but if it makes the two of you happy, then I’m willing to figure that out with you guys.” 

Alex blinked at him. 

Luke smiled, a small, intimate thing, and patted his hand on Alex’s thigh. “Think about it, okay? Talk to Reg and to Willie and see what you want. And once Reg knows what he wants, we can all sit down and figure this out. Together, okay?” 

Alex looked at his best friend helplessly and nodded. 

Luke grinned and leaned in to press a quick kiss to Alex’s cheek—Alex diligently pretended he wasn’t blushing—before he got to his feet and headed back towards the house. “Think about it, Al,” he said over his shoulder. 

“I will,” Alex croaked. 

He wasn’t going to be able to  _ stop _ thinking about it. 

  
  



	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm back 😉 
> 
> Enjoy this last, relatively angst-free chapter. From the next chapter on, things start _happening _😉😉  
>  Don't say I didn't warn you. __
> 
> __The next chapter is also finished and in beta'ing, so I'll be updating next Saturday again! Hopefully I can stick to this rhythm and finish writing as smoothly as writing this chapter went ☺️_ _
> 
> __Thank you all for the continued love an support, I love you ❤️  
>  And a special thank you to kjstark for continuing to read through the chapters and provide enthusiastic feedback ☺️ And to Juuls, for constantly being there for me when I need to rant! I love you, baby ❤️_ _
> 
> __Lots of love  
>  Annaelle_ _

**SEVEN**

**1 JANUARY 2021 (1:34 a.m.)**

**WILLIE**

Alex had been a little quieter in the past two weeks, a little more withdrawn and a little more distracted. Willie chalked it up to the holiday season. Those firsts—holidays, birthdays, anniversaries—after death were always the hardest, and even though Alex and the boys had more of a support system, more of a family than Willie had had when he was newly dead, having to face the reality of their deaths still wasn’t easy.

Even with Julie and her family there, even with Reggie’s sister and her family there, the reminder that the boys weren’t  _ really _ there hit hard every time Julie had to touch them to keep them corporeal, every time they remembered they couldn’t actually eat any of the delicious-looking food T’Nia and Ray had cooked up, every time Luke seemed to realize his parents weren’t there—

Willie had tried to be there for Alex and the others as much as he could, had created distractions and had taken them on the most fantastical outings he’d been able to imagine, had tried to show them that being dead might suck but there were  _ amazing _ things they could do now that would never have been possible if they’d been alive. 

He didn’t know if it had helped a lot, but every time the tight line of Alex’s shoulders relaxed, every time Luke grinned broadly, every time Reggie bounced up and down excitedly and laughed unreservedly, he felt like he’d been able to do at least  _ something _ . 

New Year’s had been more of a celebration, even for the boys, and Willie was glad to hear about it, even if he’d been forced to miss most of it because Caleb had demanded his presence at the Club. 

When he’d finally been able to sneak away and poofed to the Molina house, Alex had greeted him with an enthusiastic kiss while Reggie and Luke cheered them on and Julie rolled her eyes, and Willie had instantly felt better. He let Alex drag him onto the couch with Reggie and Luke, falling into an inevitable cuddle pile that Willie loved a lot more than he liked to admit, especially after his… his tiny little  _ thing _ with Luke the last time they went skateboarding. 

Luke had told Willie he’d told Alex about it, and Alex had shrugged it off like it was nothing, and Willie wanted to shrug it off too, but there was something about it that kept nagging at him—especially considering Luke seemed to be going out of his way to spend more time with Alex and Reggie instead. 

It wasn’t like Willie had been gunning to spend more time with Luke—he was actually a little relieved for the breathing room, for the space to figure out what the hell that  _ moment _ had been—but it had been obvious enough that even Reggie had noticed. 

Willie was, for now, content to ignore it as much as he could.

Alex and Reggie seemed more relaxed around each other since the love song—the  _ kiss— _ too and Willie was glad for it because the tension had been  _ killing _ him. He was also resolutely refusing to think about how startlingly  _ hot _ it had been to see the way Alex kissed Reggie—even it’d been over before any of them really know what was happening—because it was so  _ different _ from the way he’d always kissed Willie. 

Of course, one little kiss was no real basis for comparison, but Willie couldn’t get the tender, careful way Alex had drawn Reggie close out of his head, couldn’t forget that soft,  _ fond _ smile Alex had given Reggie when they’d broken apart. 

When he kissed Willie, he was always sweet and affectionate and passionate, but he wasn’t nearly as  _ careful _ with him as he’d been with Reggie and Willie didn’t know what to make of that. 

“You look like you’re thinking way too hard.” 

Willie jerked a little in surprise, turning to stare, wide-eyed, at Reggie. Luke and Alex were arguing quietly and didn’t seem to notice Willie and Reggie, even though they were still all tangled together. “I’m fine,” he told Reggie quietly, twisting his torso a little so he was facing the dark-haired bassist more directly. 

Reggie eyed him carefully and then shrugged. “Okay. Was everything okay at the Club?” 

Willie winced a little. The New Year’s celebration at the Club was always a grand affair and this year had been no different. Caleb had insisted Willie join in the dance performance, had made him rehearse for  _ days _ until he was sure he’d keel over in exhaustion. The performance itself had been fine, but mingling with the crowds afterward —even though they’d been in London and everyone had spoken English this time—was almost just as exhausting as the constant rehearsing had been. 

“Lots of partying, lots of dancing” Willie told Reggie with a faint smile. “Lots of people I didn’t really care much about. I think I like hanging out with you guys a lot more.” Reggie blushed lightly and ducked his head a little, and Willie was a little caught off guard by how  _ cute _ the gesture was. 

“Well, we’re always happy when you’re here too,” Reggie admitted quietly, cheeks flushed and Willie squinted, unsure of how to take that, because he obviously knew Alex wanted him around, and he and Luke got along well enough—before the  _ moment _ anyway—but he hadn’t… he hadn’t thought Reggie liked him all that much. 

… He had, maybe, not been too fond of the other ghost lately either, considering Reggie might very well be a serious threat to his relationship with Alex. 

Potentially. 

He wasn’t so sure anymore. 

Reggie smiled shyly again and said, “So, uh, I wanted to thank you.” When Willie blinked at him in confusion, Reggie ducked his head again, rubbing a hand through his hair before he added, “Well, you know, for… for giving me and Alex some space to figure ourselves out.” He looked up again, green eyes wide and sincere. “I know it’s not been easy for you, so… thanks.” 

“Oh,” Willie rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s—you’re… you’re welcome, I guess.” 

He hadn’t been happy about it at all, but he could see, in hindsight, that it’d been the best choice. He wasn’t blind, and now that he knew about it, he could see the way Alex looked at Reggie when he thought no one was looking, could see the way the other boy looked back—could see that the way Reggie looked at Alex and the way he looked at Luke weren’t so very different at all. 

He watched as Reggie glanced over his shoulder towards Alex, who was determinately poking Luke in the shoulder while the other ghost talked, watched as the younger ghost smiled faintly, fondly, eyes softening and a mild flush settling high on his cheeks. 

“Are you—” Willie tried, “—do you still love him?” 

Reggie looked back towards Willie and shrugged helplessly. “I mean,  _ yeah _ ,” he said without an ounce of hesitation. “He’s my best friend—he’s been my best friend for like half my life. I loved him long before we tried anything romantic, and I loved him after we broke it off, and I love him now, but I—” 

Willie frowned. “I would’ve thought that was an easy question,” he offered uncertainly. “I mean… you still want to kiss him? Be with him?” 

Reggie snorted, “Yeah, but that’s because I know he’s a fantastic kisser. Even if I didn’t love him I’d want to make out with him.” He glanced back towards Alex and waved a hand at him, “I mean,  _ look at him _ .” Willie couldn’t help but laugh loudly at that, because he loved Alex and he was very attracted to him, but even Alex looked ridiculous when trying to balance his drumsticks on his nose—when had he even had the time to grab those, they’d only looked away from him for a second. He laughed even harder when Alex dropped the drumsticks and looked up at them, brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Fair enough,” he chuckled, knocking his shoulder against Reggie’s. “Fair enough.” 

He didn’t need an answer yet—he didn’t think Reggie had an answer to give, even if it was plain to see for everyone who was actually paying attention that Reggie  _ was _ in love with Alex. 

Willie didn’t really know how he felt about that. 

A couple of weeks ago, he would’ve said no wholeheartedly and he would’ve meant it too, but now… now, after seeing the way Alex and Reggie  _ obviously _ cared about each other and loved each other, the way that they were trying their hardest to avoid hurting him and Luke… the way he’d grown closer to all three of the boys in a way Willie had never expected to… 

The thought of it didn’t fill him with as much dread as it had before. 

\---------

**4 JANUARY 2021 (6:24 p.m.)**

**LUKE**

Luke had spent most of the day in the studio, working on incorporating his bandmates’ suggestions into one of their new songs, and looking into working one of Reggie’s songs into a Julie and the Phantoms song—Luke wouldn’t have minded using the original, but Reggie himself had insisted it didn’t fit the sound they’d created so far, so… rewriting it was. 

He hadn’t realized how late it was until he suddenly realized the sun was setting and he’d need to turn on the lights if he wanted to be able to read his own notes. With that realization had come the realization that he hadn’t seen any of the others since that morning, which was unusual to say the least—Reggie or Julie would normally pop in at least once an hour to check on him, and Alex was usually around to bully him into moving around and taking a break, and Willie had recently gotten into the habit of drawing Luke away from writing to learn how to skateboard—before the  _ moment _ anyway. 

Luke had gotten the sense that Willie was a lot more freaked out than he was letting on, and he was trying to give the other ghost some space to figure out how he felt about it. 

Not that Luke minded the moment itself so much. 

He and Willie had hung out quite a few times by now and the other ghost was  _ funny _ and  _ awesome _ and Luke could  _ definitely _ see why Alex had fallen so head over heels in love with him. 

That was all it had been.

It was still  _ very _ suspicious that  _ none _ of them had come to interrupt him today. 

He poofed into the house, checking the kitchen for Reggie because Ray was there, stirring something in a pot while Carlos sat on the counter, chatting happily, but his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. 

He huffed a frustrated breath and then poofed upstairs to the landing just outside Julie’s room, and knocked on the door—he’d learned his lesson about poofing directly into her room after he’d poofed in on her and Flynn making out on the bed a few days ago. 

Julie’d made him corporeal just so she could throw her science textbook at his head. 

He still had a bump on his head. 

Being dead was really confusing sometimes.

“Come in,” Julie called from inside the room, and when Luke stepped through the door, he found Alex sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Julie, his hands set on a little stool as Julie painstakingly applied pink and black nail polish to his fingernails. 

“Hi?” Luke said uncertainly, unsure of what he’d walked in on. 

“Hey,” Julie greeted him cheerfully, not looking up from Alex’s hands. Alex, on the other hand, made a face at him and then jerked his head to indicate he should sit. Luke moved closer and obeyed, still a little thrown, and sat down next to Alex, watching as Julie finished with the colored polish and reached out for a bottle with thick, clear liquid. 

“What’re you guys doing?” He asked slowly. 

“We’re painting Alex’s nails,” Julie scoffed playfully and Alex bumped their shoulders together with a grin before Julie scolded him for moving. 

“Yeah,” Luke snorted, “I can see that. It looks pretty rad, man, but…  _ why _ , exactly?” 

Alex shrugged nonchalantly, avoiding Luke’s eye by looking back down at his own hands, but Luke could see the tips of his ears turning red. “Because it looks rad.” 

Julie glanced up, grinning mischievously, and added, “And because his boyfriend said he thought it was hot.” 

Alex’s cheeks flushed abruptly and Luke barked a laugh, slinging an arm around Alex’s shoulders to squeeze him tight. Alex huffed a little in mock-annoyance, but Luke still noticed the minute way he leaned into him and smiled a little. Things still weren’t entirely back to normal between him and Alex, or between Alex and Reggie or between all of them and Willie, but things were far less tense than they had been before the holidays. 

Listening to Reggie play his song for Alex, witnessing the genuine outpour of emotion from both of them—and that tiny, tender, intimate little kiss that had tied Luke’s insides into knots—had inexplicably helped soothe the fear that Reggie was just going to abandon him for Alex. It’d gotten easier, seeing them together, talking and hugging and sitting on the couch together with Julie and Carlos, and Luke had taken to giving them a little space too. 

He wasn’t jealous anymore—he’d come to the conclusion after watching them share that small, emotional kiss after Reggie’s song that he probably  _ would _ be okay if they wanted to date too. He’d told Alex as much, and though he knew it was on Alex’s mind, Luke was pretty sure Alex hadn’t talked to Reggie about it, probably because  _ Reggie _ hadn’t figured himself out yet. 

Instead, Luke had spent more than a few hours with Willie, before their moment anyway, letting the other ghost teach him how to skateboard while Reggie and Alex spent time together. 

They’d spent more time together as a group too, frequenting the beach during the day, watching Reggie and Willie chase each other in the water, each trying to dunk the other as Alex and Luke hooted at them from a safe distance, and frequenting whichever nightclub played the best live bands during the night, dancing together or as couples, switching partners often so things  _ couldn’t _ get awkward anymore—Luke had danced with Willie as often as he had with Alex and Reggie, and he didn’t even mind. 

The other ghost was a phenomenal dancer and he’d taught Luke  _ sick  _ moves so far. 

Luke also felt like he’d relearned, a little, how to be close to Alex, how to be affectionate towards him without being awkward about it, which was  _ long _ overdue. They’d been broken up for literal decades—although not  _ quite _ for them—and Luke still wondered  _ why _ they had never transitioned back to friends as easily as Reggie and Alex seemed to have done. 

Of course, now that Reggie and Alex had actually  _ talked _ about their breakup, it turned out neither of them had  _ really _ let go of what they’d been, so they probably weren’t the best example—but then Luke didn’t really know a lot of other people who’d dated their best friend and had broken up with them, only stay friends after. 

“I’m sure,” Luke finally chuckled at his best friend, “that Willie will appreciate it.” 

“Speaking of which,” Alex squeaked, shoving Luke off as soon as Julie let him move, “ _ your  _ boyfriend is in the guest room trying new looks too, and you should  _ very much  _ go be there rather than here.” 

Luke chuckled again and Julie laughed as Luke got to his feet, shoving at Alex’s shoulder playfully as he did. “Alright, alright. I know when my company isn’t appropriately appreciated.” He dodged the pillow Alex threw at him and poofed out of Julie’s room, still laughing. 

“Reg,” he whined as he poofed into the guest bedroom, “Julie and Alex are being mean to m—” 

He caught sight of Reggie and stopped dead, mouth hanging open a little. 

His boyfriend was standing by the bed, dressed in a wine red, form-fitting button-down shirt, his hair flopping endearingly across his forehead into his kohl-rimmed eyes, and he was—he was wearing a  _ skirt _ . 

A black mini skirt that ended mid-thigh and was overlaid with another, see-through skirt that fell below his knees with tiny little glittering stones sewn into the fabric, making it sparkle every time Reggie moved. Luke felt his brain short out, attempt to reboot, and ultimately short out again, because he’d been prepared for a lot of new looks, but—

“Holy shit,” he breathed, and Reggie looked up at him with a bright smile. 

“Hey Luke,” he said happily. “I’m trying some new stuff—Julie thinks it’ll be a big hit at the festival, you know, since it’s all about nonconformity and—” 

“ _ No _ ,” Luke exclaimed before he could stop himself and Reggie reeled back in surprise. “No, nope, you’re not—that’s not—Reg, you’re not  _ ever _ wearing this  _ in public _ , Jesus—I—” He watched as Reggie opened his mouth to reply, to say something and that wasn’t—he didn’t want to have to explain that he didn’t  _ dislike _ the look at all—

He didn’t think there were words for how much he  _ did _ like it. 

So, before Reggie could say anything, Luke threw himself forward and wrapped Reggie in his arms, slotting their lips together to lose his breath all over again in a much _ , much _ more satisfying way. Reggie huffed in surprise, because they hadn’t really kissed like this since Reggie’s initial slip-up with Alex, but Luke was only human and he was in love with this dork and— _ skirt _ . 

He bit down on Reggie’s lip before soothing his tongue over the small hurt and Reggie groaned against his lips, digging his fingers into Luke’s hair, his mouth opening under the force of Luke’s onslaught, letting him have control of the kiss. Luke licked deep into Reggie’s mouth, angling their heads for better access, hands wandering all the while. 

Luke found he couldn’t quite keep his hands off of Reggie’s hips, clenching his fingers in the fabric of the skirt to tug Reggie closer, and he was so caught up in the kiss he didn’t even realize Reggie was pulling away until their lips parted with a soft  _ pop _ . 

Luke let out a small, involuntary whine, and Reggie gave him an amused and wide-eyed stare while he grinned at Luke. “So,” he said hoarsely, “I take it you like the new look?” 

“Christ,” Luke groaned, thumping his head forward on Reggie’s shoulder briefly before looking back up at his boyfriend in exasperation. “ _ Yes _ , Reg, I like the look,  _ obviously _ .” He tugged Reggie closer by his hips, bunching up the fabric of the skirt, and hissed, “And I don’t  _ ever  _ want anyone else to see you like this—this is  _ mine—” _

“Well,” Reggie drawled playfully. “You’re a little late there—Willie and Alex helped me pick out the skirt, and Julie helped me with the eyeliner, so…” 

“Stop,” Luke growled, lunging forward to press a series of short kisses to Reggie’s lips, punctuating each exasperated word, “ _ stop  _ bringing up Alex and Willie and Julie when I’m trying to hit on you, you dork.” 

Reggie giggled against his lips, slinging his arms around Luke’s shoulders and kissing him back lazily, humming when Luke drew him even closer against his body. They kissed for—for seconds or hours or minutes before Reggie pulled away just a little bit from Luke’s lips, keeping the rest of their bodies in close contact, and then pressed their foreheads together, sharing breath they didn’t really need as Reggie whispered, “You know… this room is  _ technically _ ours.  _ And _ it has a door. That  _ locks _ .” 

The implication behind Reggie’s words hit him  _ hard _ , and Luke’s eyes widened. “Oh,” he breathed, staring at Reggie. 

Reggie made a face and immediately backtracked, “I’m sorry, I know we’re not—you don’t—it’s—” 

“ _ No _ ,” Luke shouted, clamping his hand over a wide-eyed, surprised Reggie’s mouth. “No, I—” He shook his head and then lowered his hand, leaning in to kiss Reggie again. His boyfriend’s chest rumbled with a moan against his fingers, his tongue sweeping against the back of Reggie’s teeth.

He keened a little when Reggie’s fingers tugged on his hair, shooting sparks of pleasure down his spine, dragging his head to the side and breaking their kiss to mouth his way down Luke’s jaw and neck.

He paid particular attention to the little spot just beneath Luke’s jaw that had him practically melting into a puddle where he stood, the sensation of Reggie’s lips against his feverishly hot skin and the solidness of Reggie’s body pressing into him, surrounding him, almost too much—but also not nearly enough. He blindly threw out a hand, grinning in satisfaction when he heard the door slam shut, and flicked his wrist just like Willie had taught him, listening for the faint click of the lock.

“Willie teach you that?” Reggie muttered against his neck, and Luke gasped as Reggie scraped his teeth across his earlobe, fingers digging into Reggie’s hips. 

“Y—yes,” he moaned, “Baby, you’re gonna have to stop that or this is going to be over before it starts.”

Reggie chuckled before he pulled back, cupped Luke’s face in both of his hands, and swiped his thumbs across the other ghost’s cheeks. “Don’t worry,” he said softly, “We’ve got all the time in the world.” 

God, Luke adored him. 

Reggie gently pressed his lips to Luke’s again and drew him towards the bed.

Later, as they lay tangled together on the bed, sheets, and clothes strewn around the floor, Luke trailed his hand up and down Reggie’s bicep. “I thought it’d feel like much more of a big deal,” he admitted, pressing as close to Reggie as he could. “You know? People make such a big deal of it, but this felt… natural.” He smiled and pressed a kiss to the closest part of his boyfriend—the tip of his nose. 

“I think that’s how you know it’s right,” Reggie mused, dragging his fingers through Luke’s hair soothingly. “I mean, I’ve only slept with you and Alex, but I felt that way with both of you. It felt like that’s the way we were supposed to be.”

Luke shifted, curving his hand around Reggie’s waist. “I’m glad I waited for you,” he said quietly. “I love you, Reggie.” 

Reggie’s eyes looked suspiciously misty, but he smiled too. “I love you too, Luke.” He was quiet for a minute, gaze straying towards the crumpled—now _ filthy— _ pile of black fabric on the floor right next to the bed and then added, smirking, “You get to tell Julie we ruined her skirt though.” 

“What?!” Luke squeaked, “Wh—”

Reggie smirked and shrugged, “Hey, you’re the one who told me not to take it off.” 

Luke’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah, well—” he glanced down to the wrinkled fabric too. “Let’s just get her a new skirt instead and not mention this one. Ever. Again.” Reggie laughed, delighted, and Luke couldn’t resist leaning back in to kiss him, more than a little obsessed with the feel of Reggie’s bare skin—so, so very much of it—slipping and sliding against his own. 

“You know they probably know exactly what we’re doing in here, right?” Reggie muttered against his lips, and Luke groaned, pulling away from Reggie with a pout. 

“Why d’you have to bring that up?” he complained, shoving at Reggie lightly. 

Reggie just grinned at him, running his fingers through Luke’s hair in a soothing gesture that made the tension bleed out of him before it could even really take hold. “Does it bother you?” Luke asked in a small voice. “That Alex probably knows we’re sleeping together? Does it bother  _ him _ , you think?” 

“No,” Reggie shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. “No, why would it? We’re not—it’s not quite like that, is it? It doesn’t bother me he’s sleeping with Willie either.” 

Luke hummed, trailing his fingers down Reggie’s arm, trying to decide whether he was ready to start the conversation his next question would definitely spark. “Have you figured it out yet?” He asked eventually, because he didn’t want to put it off either.

Reggie sighed, but he didn’t look put out, as Luke had been afraid of. “No,” he admitted quietly, looking away from Luke. “No, it’s hard, I—it’s so hard to explain too.” 

Luke tilted Reggie’s chin up gently and offered his boyfriend a soft smile. “Try me.”

He held Reggie’s gaze for a long, extended moment, trying to read the emotion in Reggie’s gaze, but there was so much of it he couldn’t pinpoint one specific thing. Reggie heaved another sigh and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, and Luke propped himself up on his elbow so he could look at him. Reggie drew his lower lip between his teeth, biting down harshly for a moment before he began, “Being in love with you was easy. Inevitable. It felt exactly like I expected being in love with someone to feel like. You... you give me butterflies when you smile at me and all I want to do is spend time with you, and when you are unhappy, I am too—you know? It’s always felt exactly like the songs and stories always said it would. With Alex... Alex was different.”

Luke swallowed thickly, reaching out to curl his fingers around Reggie’s hip. “Different how?” 

Reggie shrugged, rolling his head to the side so he was facing Luke again. “He snuck up on me. I didn’t even realize that what I felt for him was love too until I saw someone else flirting with him and realized I never wanted to see him with someone else ever again. It wasn’t—”

He huffed frustratedly and shook his head. “You were like a wildfire. You were bright and all-consuming and there was no escaping you and I didn’t want to either. Alex was... Alex was my safe space. A shelter in the middle of a storm. A shoulder to lean on, someone who held me when I was falling to pieces—” Reggie fell silent and Luke swallowed thickly, trying hard to stay quiet, to let Reggie finish. 

“I loved him because I could be vulnerable in front of him and I wouldn’t be ashamed. I loved him because he let me be the same for him,” Reggie finally said contemplatively. 

“Oh…” Luke breathed. “I don’t make you feel safe?” 

Reggie jerked back, surprised, before nearly throwing himself into Luke’s arms, knocking Luke onto his back with an armful of eager bassist. “Of course you do,” Reggie insisted, hands warm and soft on Luke’s cheeks as he settled on Luke’s lap. “Luke, _of_ _course_ you do. It just... It feels different. I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t also feel safe with you, but... it’s still different.” 

Luke managed a smile, both hands resting on Reggie’s torso, drawing his boyfriend close. “It’s okay,” he whispered, “I understand. I do. I get what you mean.” They both fell silent for a second before Luke asked, unsure, “So you don’t feel that way about Alex anymore and that’s why you’re not sure?” 

“No, no, I do,” Reggie shook his head. “I do still—I do love him, feel safe with him, but... I’m not jealous anymore.” He must’ve recognized the confusion on Luke’s face, because he groaned and continued, “I used to  _ hate _ seeing Alex with other people. I hated sharing him, even with you guys, sometimes. I wrote entire songs about how much I hated it, but now, with Willie…” He shrugged helplessly and smiled. “I love it. I love seeing him with Willie, I love the way he smiles, and I thought—I thought that meant I was over it, over him, but then we kissed and—so maybe...” 

“Maybe not so much,” Luke finished. 

“Yeah,” Reggie nodded. “Maybe not so much.”

Luke trailed his fingers down Reggie’s chest, drawing his lip between his teeth as he tried to figure out what to say. “You know,” he said slowly, “I’ve been thinking…” 

Reggie grinned. “Always a dangerous thing.” 

Luke scowled and pinched at Reggie’s side, grinning as his boyfriend yelped and tried to wiggle away. “As I was saying,” he insisted, gripping Reggie’s hips tightly so he couldn’t get away, “I was thinking and…  _ if _ you think you are still in love with Alex, I wouldn’t…” he hesitated and looked to where his hands rested on Reggie’s hips, rubbing his thumbs over his hip bones softly. “I wouldn’t be  _ opposed _ to it if you wanted to date him too.” 

“What?” Reggie squeaked, eyes wide and startled. “I’m not—that’s—Luke, I wouldn’t just—” 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Luke sat up, cupping Reggie’s cheeks, “Baby, I’m not—I’m not mad, I’m not just saying that—I mean it. I promise I can deal with it, it won’t be the end of us. If you love Alex, if you want to be with him too, then I’m okay with that.” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Reggie’s slack jaw. “I’m serious, baby.” 

Reggie blinked down at him speechlessly. “You can’t,” he whispered faintly, “That’s not—” 

Luke frowned. “Reg,” he said softly. “Baby, you don’t have to think about that yet. Let it sink in, figure out how you feel about Alex first, and then think about this, okay? And talk to Alex about it too—he knows, I’ve told him—” 

“Wait, so you’ve talked to Alex about this before you talked to me?” Reggie demanded, a frown wrinkling his forehead, and Luke was a little startled to realize Reggie was  _ actually _ upset with him. 

“Well,” he hesitated, and Reggie scoffed quietly, slipping off Luke’s lap and the bed, bending down to retrieve his underwear from the floor. Luke scooted over to the edge of the bed, reaching out to catch Reggie’s wrist, but before his fingers could close around his wrist, Reggie yanked his arm away, retrieving his jeans and wiggling into it, still refusing to look at Luke. 

“Reg,” he whispered, unsure and confused—surely his talk with Alex wasn’t  _ that _ bad? 

Reggie turned around, running his hand through his messy hair. “You talked to Alex about  _ my  _ feelings for him behind my back,” he said, voice shaking. “I thought we all agreed to no secrets? I thought we were supposed to be figuring this all out  _ together _ —why would you tell  _ Alex _ before you told  _ me _ , Luke?” 

“I wasn’t—” Luke stuttered, but before he could continue, before he could find a way to  _ fix _ this, before he could find a way to apologize, someone hammered on the door loudly. “Get dressed, you two!” Julie shouted through the door. “My dad wants to talk to us and if you’re not downstairs in five minutes I’m sending Willie and Alex in!” 

“We’ll be right there,” Reggie called out, pulling the button-down shirt he’d worn earlier back on, doing up the buttons as fast as he could. 

Luke got to his feet and hiked his underwear up his hips before turning to Reggie again, slowly rounding the bed to approach him. “Baby, I didn’t mean to go behind your back. I just—I saw an opportunity to talk to Alex about this and I took it.” Reggie had crossed his arms over his chest and was looking down at his feet, deliberately avoiding Luke’s gaze and he  _ hated _ it. 

The night had been  _ amazing _ up to now, had been everything Luke had wanted out of his first time and he didn’t want it to be ruined because Reggie felt he’d been left out of a conversation that should actually have included him. “I’m sorry, baby,” Luke whispered, raising his hand to touch Reggie’s cheek softly. “You’re right, I should’ve talked to you about this sooner too.” 

Reggie loosened his arms from around his torso and pouted up at Luke. “I just—I’m glad that you’re okay with this, I am, but… I don’t—I don’t like it when you don’t tell me stuff.” 

Luke nodded. “That’s fair. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep it from you, I just thought I’d give you space to figure yourself out before I laid that all on you.” He slipped an arm around Reggie’s waist and tugged him close, shivering at the feel of Reggie’s clothes against his bare skin. “I love you, Reg. I just want to make sure we can figure this all out and  _ all _ end up happy.” 

“Yeah,” Reggie nodded shakily. “Yeah, me too.” 

Luke smiled and leaned in to press a quick peck to Reggie’s lips before he let go and started picking up his clothes from the floor, dressing in record time. 

“Ready?” He asked Reggie as soon as he’d pulled his shirt over his head, grinning happily when Reggie rolled his eyes, stepping closer to run his fingers through Luke’s hair. “You’ve got  _ crazy _ sex hair,” he chuckled, and Luke smirked, setting his hands on Reggie’s hips as Reggie messed with his hair. 

“Satisfied?” Luke waggled his eyebrows at his boyfriend, grinning when Reggie’s cheeks flushed. 

“Come on,” Reggie said, ignoring Luke’s salacious smirk. “Let’s go before they send Willie and Alex in here.” Luke grinned and took Reggie’s hand, poofing down into the kitchen. 

The others were all seated at the dining room table, and when Luke and Reggie took a seat, Alex leaned over, smirking. “Finally found a room with a door that locks, huh?” Luke snorted and elbowed him in the side, knocking their shoulders together as Reggie scooted his chair a little closer on his other side, hooking their ankles together. 

“Alright,” Julie said, stretching out to put both hands in the middle of the table. “Now that we’re all here.” Reggie blushed and Willie laughed, but they all stretched forward nonetheless, clasping their fingers over Julie’s. Ray, seated at the head of the table, inhaled sharply and Luke smiled lightly—no matter how many times he’d seen them become visible, he was still a little surprised every time. 

“Right,” Ray said, collecting himself. “My visitation rights for Tafani have been approved. I scheduled an appointment in a week, so we have time to prepare.” He looked around at the boys and offered them a kind expression. “So… What questions do you want me to ask him?” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, I would _love _some speculation about where you think I'm going with this 😉__
> 
> __Do you think Luke and Willie are okay? What questions do they want to ask Jacob Tafani? How excited was Luke to lose his v-card? How well _does _Alex deal with knowing Reggie and Luke are sleeping together? 😉___ _


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